Always There
by Miss Huli Jing
Summary: .:Complete:. For years, she stood by him and his crush on Meiying out of a sense of duty as his best friend. She knew that Cheng, rough and raw, would undoubtedly shatter soft, fragile Meiying some day. She only hoped that when that day came, he would turn to her and realize that she had always been there. Follows Movie Storyline. ChengOC. Missing a Piece remake.
1. Staring

**MHJ: **HI GUYS :) Missing a Piece lovers: welcome back! :D People who are new to my writing: nice to meet you! :) So basically I was looking over Missing a Piece, which I wrote a long time ago, and I was kinda weirded out by it. I have tons of awesome ideas that I wanted to do, but I didn't wanna mess with the original Missing a Piece so I figured I could just do a remake! :) This isn't exactly a remake though.

**PLEASE READ:** The timeline of the movie has been altered. Dre moved to China when he, Meiying, and Cheng's gang are all entering the tenth grade (15 to 16 years old), otherwise known as the first year of high school in China. I think this is a more realistic age for the things that happen in the movie, plus it works out with the stuff I've got in mind. Admittedly, this _is_ a remake. I reuse a lot of characters, but don't get me wrong—THIS IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STORY. Of course, some parts may be kinda similar, but don't worry, it won't feel like you're reading Missing a Piece all over again. :)

I'm only saying this once: **Bold** is English.

**Edit August 2013:** I have deleted Missing a Piece.

* * *

Chapter 1

"Cheng, I know Meiying is really smart and all, but I don't think you'll find the answers to our math homework by staring at her."

"Hmm," Cheng hummed distractedly, tearing his gaze from Meiying to look at the girl seated beside him. "You say something, Jiayi?"

At first glance, she almost seemed like any other fifteen-year-old girl in China with her long black hair wound up in a loose bun and dark grey eyes usually mistaken for black. However, her eyes were neither friendly nor snobby, but rather mischievous; she was seated comfortably in her chair, but he could tell—even through her baggy sweatpants and t-shirt—that her body was lean and toned and probably stronger than half the boys attending Beijing High School.

She was glowering at him, eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Either go and ask her out right now or stop ogling at her and do your homework like you're supposed to."

Cheng bristled. "Who said I was ogling at her?"

"Cheng's ogling at Meiying again?" asked a quiet-looking boy as he approached their table just in time to hear the last snippet of their conversation

"I was not!" Cheng protested, scowling.

"You can't even deny it anymore," Jiayi snapped back, rolling her eyes. She moved out of her seat, gathering her stuff. "Here, Liang, you can sit here." Before either of them could question her actions, she moved around their library table and seated herself across from Cheng, blocking off Meiying from his view. Looking quite satisfied with herself, she picked up her pencil again. "Now, every time I notice you trying to look around me to stare at Meiying, I'll kick you. Now get back to work."

"Fine, fine," Cheng sighed, picking up his own pencil. "Not like I was staring in the first place."

"Don't start," Liang and Jiayi chorused, exchanging exasperated looks.

Opening one of his own books, Liang glanced at his two friends curiously. "How much homework did you guys finish?"

"A lot more than Cheng did," Jiayi replied, shooting daggers from her eyes at her best friend. Her foot shot out, making contact with Cheng's shin. "Hey, eyes on your paper."

"Cheng, you know the agreement we have with our parents!" Liang hissed, ignoring Cheng's sharp inhale from the pain of Jiayi's kick. "All homework must be completed if we want to have sleepovers. If you don't finish, you'll miss the movie marathon at my house tonight!"

"I've been telling him that," Jiayi whined softly. "He won't listen!"

"Guys!" Cheng snapped, a little too loudly. Several people hissed at the three teenagers, but upon recognizing them, most quickly turned away, suddenly nervous. Cheng lowered his voice, "Yelling at me isn't helping me concentrate on math. If you really want to be helpful, you'd help. Someone want to do my English homework for me?"

Rolling his eyes, Liang sighed and closed his book, setting it aside. "Fine, hand it over."

"Thanks, buddy," Cheng said in relief, sliding a folder towards his friend. Suddenly, something caught his eye and he found himself leaning slightly to the side.

A sharp pain shot through his shin again.

"I wasn't staring this time," he hissed across the table towards a peeved Jiayi. "Meiying's coming over here!"

Jiayi's delicate brows shot up to her side-swept bangs and she whipped her head around. Meiying was indeed walking towards them, her books already packed neatly within her backpack. Turning back, Jiayi had just enough time to shoot Cheng a sly grin and a wink before Meiying stopped at their table.

"Hey Jiayi, thanks for letting me borrow your history homework," she whispered, handing the other girl an orange notebook labeled 'History'. Her eyes flickered to Cheng and Liang, and she smiled shyly. "Hi guys."

"Hey," Liang replied while Cheng merely grunted in response, staring intensely down at his homework.

Jiayi's lips pursed slightly; despite how much Cheng seemed to like Meiying, he always seemed to have trouble showing it. If he kept up his actions, she was positive he would end up pushing Meiying away. Naturally, as his best friend, Jiayi knew it was her responsibility to help him out as much as possible—not to mention, this was a great opportunity for some good old-fashioned humiliation.

Grinning cheekily, Jiayi leaned towards Meiying as if she were about to divulge in a secret. "Hey, did you know that Cheng was staring—" She broke off suddenly when Cheng kicked _her_.

"Yeah," he said slowly to Meiying while still glaring across the table at the wincing Jiayi. His dark eyes flickered to Meiying and back down to his paper. "Staring…at…your book! Yeah, Liang wanted to know what you were reading, being a bookworm and all."

Liang stared at him, partly amused yet partly annoyed for being dragged into the pitiful excuse.

Meiying, not knowing Cheng as well as his friends did, actually seemed to buy the ridiculous excuse. She smiled politely at Liang. "I'll let you borrow it when I'm done then." She shifted her weight awkwardly. "Um, there's one more thing I wanted to say to you guys."

Jiayi perked up. "Oh? Are you going to ask Cheng ou—" Cheng kicked her again. "Nevermind…"

Meiying eyed her in confusion before shrugging it off. "Actually, I heard that we're having a new student soon. He's moving in tomorrow, I think."

Cheng, Liang, and Jiayi looked confused.

"Okay," Jiayi said slowly. "So?"

Meiying shot the three of them a skeptical look. "Oh, come on. I know for a fact that you guys have beaten up almost all the new kids we get."

"Only the ones that challenged us! They deserved it anyway!" Cheng exclaimed incredulously, snapping his head up.

"How so?" Meiying shot back, boldly meeting Cheng's eyes.

Stiffening, Cheng's expression darkened and he impulsively snapped, "We don't have to justify anything we do to _you_."

Jiayi and Liang nearly face-palmed.

Meiying frowned at Cheng. "Fine. Just try to be a little more accepting, please?"

"Whatever," Cheng grunted, turning back to his homework.

"We'll try," Liang assured Meiying.

Jiayi nodded. "We won't do anything unreasonable."

It was the best answer they could give, and Meiying knew that. Sighing, she nodded. "Alright, that's all. I'll see you later, Jiayi. Bye, Cheng, Liang."

As soon as she was out of earshot, Liang and Jiayi whirled on their friend.

"You idiot," Jiayi sighed, shaking her head.

Liang seemed to agree. "If you keep up this behavior, she's going to hate your guts."

Cheng sank in his seat, looking slightly remorseful. "I know… I can't help it. Things just come out wrong!"

Smiling sympathetically, Jiayi reached across the table and patted his shoulder. "Well, nothing we can do about it anymore. Now, come on. Let's get our homework done."

* * *

Later that night, seven teenagers clad in their sleepwear sat in Liang's living room. The room was dark; the only light source was the television currently displaying the ending credits of a movie. In the dim light of the rolling credits, empty soda cans could be seen stacked on the floor and the table pushed to the side. Two almost-empty bowls of popcorn sat scattered amongst the friends, forgotten.

"Well," Feng, the tallest of the group, quipped. "That's three movies. What time is it?"

Zhuang fumbled for his cellphone. "About four in the morning."

Silence descended upon the group of close friends.

"Should we go to sleep?" yawned Qing, the youngest and shortest.

"Might be a good idea," mumbled Xiang, taking another swig of his soda in an attempt to stay awake and alert.

"I know how we can wake ourselves up," Jiayi suddenly said, her giggles sounding dull from exhaustion. Turning her head to her right, she nudged Cheng with her elbow. "Let's talk about our dear Cheng and his hopeless crush on Meiying."

At this, everyone laughed, sounding considerably more awake.

"He was staring at her in the library today," Liang chuckled, swatting away Cheng's half-hearted attempt to hit him. "Then, she actually came over and he completely blew it. As expected."

"Geez, Cheng, you're so hopeless," Zhuang snickered. "Why are you so obsessed with her?"

"She's pretty," came Cheng's feeble explanation.

Liang and Jiayi rolled their eyes, simultaneously deadpanning, "There's more to a relationship than looks, Cheng."

"Alright, fine," Cheng said. "She's nice too. Talented, accepting, funny…"

"She thinks we're bullies," Jiayi quipped. Suddenly, the light-heartedness in the room dulled. "Sorry, totally ruined the mood, didn't I?"

Feng waved his hand dismissively. "Well, in all honesty, we kind of are."

"Should we feel bad about that?" Qing asked.

"Nah," Cheng snorted. "Life's unfair. The sooner people understand that, the better. Most of them deserved it anyway."

"True that," Jiayi mumbled.

They were all quiet for a moment.

"Do you guys want to go to the park tomorrow?" asked Cheng, yawning.

"Sure," the others mumbled.

Jiayi giggled. "Maybe Meiying will be there."

"Shut up."

* * *

**MHJ:** Well, hope you guys liked it! :) I'll update in a week or two. Don't forget to review! ^_^


	2. Park Fight: Cheng vs Dre

**MHJ:** Hello everyone! I'm so glad to see some familiar faces (jk, pen names) in the reviews :) Glad you all decided to come back and read another version! ^_^ Anyways, I think I've made you all wait long enough :3 Here's chapter 2: the park incident! Hope you like it!

* * *

Previously...

_"She thinks we're bullies," Jiayi quipped. Suddenly, the light-heartedness in the room dulled. "Sorry, totally ruined the mood, didn't I?"_

_Feng waved his hand dismissively. "Well, in all honesty, we kind of are."_

_"Should we feel bad about that?" Qing asked._

_"Nah," Cheng snorted. "Life's unfair. The sooner people understand that, the better. Most of them deserved it anyway."_

_"True that," Jiayi mumbled._

_They were all quiet for a moment._

_"Do you guys want to go to the park tomorrow?" asked Cheng, yawning._

_"Sure," the others mumbled._

_Jiayi giggled. "Maybe Meiying will be there."_

_"Shut up."_

Chapter 2

_Swish! Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud…_

Ball in his possession, Xiang sprinted down the court, eyes flickering around at his teammates, trying to decide who was the most open for a pass. After making eye contact with Zhuang, he quickly faked a pass to Cheng and tossed the ball to Zhuang, only to yell in frustration when Feng jumped in the way and stole the ball. Feng dribbled it to the hoop and shot the ball into the basket easily.

"Aw, come on, guys! Put up some fight!" he yelled teasingly, exchanging high fives with Liang and Qing, his only teammates.

Zhuang shook his fist at him threateningly as he caught his breath. "Shut up! Not all of us are top basketball players like you! If you want a fairer fight, give us another teammate!"

"It's already four to three!" Feng exclaimed, laughing heartily. "But, since I'm so _generous_, I guess we can make it five to two." He glanced at his two teammates before nodding at Qing. "Qing, you're on the other team now."

"Oh sure, give us the midget," Jiayi muttered, a teasing smile on her face. Qing scowled.

"I'm only _a little_ shorter than you!" he shouted, face red.

Laughing, Jiayi tweaked his nose. "Yeah, but that one inch still makes you the shortest here."

Suddenly, a new voice cut into their playful banters.

"Hey, mind if we take the court for a little while?" It was Yang, a boy from their grade. He had three friends with him, two Chinese and a blonde American.

Cheng and his friends exchanged looks. Well, to be fair, they _had_ occupied the court for a while.

"Sure," Cheng said, shrugging. Feng tossed their basketball to Yang, who caught it with a grin.

"Thanks," he called as the group of seven strolled away from the court to the shade beneath the trees.

"So what do you guys want to do now?" Jiayi asked, swiping Qing's hat right off his head. She stuck it on her own and quickly shot up a tree before Qing could snatch it back. Lounging on one of the higher branches, she grinned down at them as they all took seats on the ground.

"Well, first, you could give me my hat back," Qing growled, glaring at her.

Yawning, Jiayi shifted the hat so that its rim covered her face. "Nah."

Xiang laughed at Qing's adorable scowl. "Qing, if you want it, go get it."

At this, Jiayi adjusted the hat so that she could see. "Yeah, squirt. Come and get it if you want it back that badly."

Egged on by his friends' encouragement, Qing grabbed the lowest branch, hoisting himself up as Jiayi moved down to stand on a thick branch at about the same height. Cheekily, she beckoned him closer with a twitch of her fingers.

Qing struck. Jiayi blocked. The branches shuddered beneath their movement.

"This is actually pretty fun," Qing admitted after they exchanged a few attacks.

Jiayi leaned the side, dodging a punch, and waved her arms as she tried to maintain her balance on the shaky limb. "Yeah, but it's hard. We should do this more often! First to fall off loses?"

"Obviously," Qing replied. "Winner gets my hat."

Suddenly, Cheng stood up, grabbing Jiayi's ankle.

She yelped as she fell out of the tree, landing on Cheng's shoulder. He managed to catch her, wrapping an arm securely around her legs so she didn't slip off, before she knocked them both over.

"Cheng, what the heck was that for?" she demanded once he set her down. Above them, Qing was hopping on his branch, singing, "I win! I win!"

Cheng glared at her and spun her around. "Tell me that is not your doing."

Jiayi was silent, her eyes roaming the park. Finally, she said, "What are you talking about?"

The rest of the gang exchanged glances before Liang spotted and pointed out what had caught Cheng's attention.

Obviously taking advantage of the nice weather outside, Meiying sat on a park bench, dressed in a pink blouse and a beige skirt. Her violin was out and settled on her shoulder with her fingers skittering gracefully on the violin strings.

"Meiying," Cheng ground out through gritted teeth. "Please tell me you didn't invite her here just to bug me."

Jiayi rolled her eyes. "Oh please. If I invited her, she wouldn't be over there; she'd be here with us so I can tease you two."

Growling in annoyance, Cheng threw a punch that Jiayi neatly dodged with a laugh.

Qing chose that moment to hop down from the tree, reaching over to take his hat back. "I win."

"See what you did?" Jiayi grumbled, sitting down next to Liang.

Cheng just rolled his eyes and moved away, darting behind a bush. Discreetly, he peered over the top of the shrubbery at Meiying, ignoring his friends' snickers.

"Are you serious?" Feng laughed. "Hiding behind a bush? Man, Cheng, you've gotten _really_ pathetic."

Something glittered in Jiayi's mischievous eyes. "Want me to go invite her over, Cheng?"

Cheng's head whipped toward her. "No!"

Jiayi's eyes widened at the sudden harsh response, and her lip jutted out, beginning to tremble dangerously.

"You didn't have to be so mean," she whimpered, eyes starting to glass over. "A simple 'no' would have sufficed."

Used to her antics, Cheng just rolled his eyes and turned back to Meiying.

Pouting, Jiayi stopped the act, her fake tears disappearing with a blink of her eyes. Crossing her arms, she sighed and turned to her other friends. "So what should we do, now that the great Cheng is busy stalking Meiying?"

"I'm not stalking!" Cheng snapped before anyone could reply, face turning red.

"You kind of are," Zhuang snickered.

"I am not!" Cheng protested.

Xiang rolled his eyes, "He's really starting to lose it."

"Speaking of losing it," Zhuang remarked loudly over the laughs of his friends. He pointed toward Meiying's direction, face suddenly devoid of amusement and filled with anticipation. "Looks like the new kid is talking to Meiying."

"What?" Cheng snapped, whipping his head around.

An unfamiliar boy with caramel-colored skin, dark brown hair, and exhaustion in his face—likely the result of jet lag—was standing before Meiying, dancing. To make things, worse, she was giggling.

"Uh oh," Jiayi mumbled, watching jealous rage capture Cheng's face. "Trouble."

"Cheng, don't do anything rash," Liang warned. Cheng grunted, still glaring at the American.

In an effort to lighten the mood, Qing jumped to his feet with a cheeky grin. "Bet I can do his dance better!" He lifted his hands and started to shake his body in a mockery of the new kid, encouraged by the peals of laughter he elicited from his friends.

After a few moments of laughing at Qing's dance, Jiayi glanced back at Meiying and the new kid. "Uh oh…"

For whatever reason, the American had awkwardly bent down, allowing Meiying to finger the rough braids on his head. She giggled at the texture.

"Okay, that's it," Cheng growled, storming around the bush towards them.

"We better go back him up," Jiayi muttered, nudging Qing. A grin broke out on his childish face and, together, they left the other four behind to enjoy the drama about to unfold.

Meiying noticed their approach almost immediately and, upon seeing the dark scowl on Cheng's face, jabbed her thumb down onto the end button of the phone in her hand, silencing an upbeat tune. The new kid must have seen the nervous look on her face because he turned towards the three approaching teens.

Coming to a stop before them, Cheng glared at the new boy for a moment before directing his stare to Meiying.

"You should be practicing," he said with the slightest bit of sarcasm sealed in his voice.

Meiying fidgeted slightly before gesturing to her music sheets with a half-hearted guilty smile. "I am practicing."

"If you were practicing enough," Cheng growled, slapping the music sheets out of Meiying's hands. "You wouldn't need these!"

Looking insulted, Meiying stood up, glaring up at his face. "What do you think you're doing? Mind your own business!"

"I thought you wanted to get into Beijing Academy of Music. If your dad knew about this, he'd be very angry and disappointed in you!" Cheng snarled. Then, to the American boy, who was bending down to pick up Meiying's crinkled music sheets, he snapped, "**Leave it.**"

"What do you care? You're not my dad," Meiying shot back defensively. The American held the music sheets out for her, but Cheng slapped them onto the ground again.

"**Come on, dude!**" the American exclaimed, glaring at Cheng. Unnoticed in the background, Qing and Jiayi exchanged glances; a small crowd had already begun to form around them.

Letting out a frustrated screech, Meiying turned around and started angrily collecting her things. "You're not my dad, Cheng. You can't order me around and tell me what to do!"

"Better get home before I tell your parents," Cheng said almost nonchalantly, ignoring her words. Then, to the American boy who was retrieving the sheets again, he said, louder, "**I said, leave it!**"

The American defiantly held out the papers anyway, jerking his hand out of the way when Cheng swiped at them. To make matters worse, he scowled at Cheng as if Cheng was just another random boy in China and not a member of the Fighting Dragon Advanced Kung Fu team.

Next thing anyone knew, Cheng had pushed the boy effortlessly to the ground. Immediately, Jiayi and Qing were at Cheng's sides, quickly joined by Liang and the others. The angry expression on Meiying's face faded into horror as the American scrambled to his feet, taking on a shaky fighting stance.

"Cheng, he's standing!" Xiang exclaimed excitedly.

"Someone's challenging you to a fight," Zhuang crowed.

Looking almost amused, Cheng turned toward the American, lazily motioning with one hand for him to attack.

"Go! Go! Go!" Qing whooped, drawing Feng and Zhuang into his cheer.

"Yeah, kick his butt!" Jiayi added, pumping a fist energetically into the air.

If the little cheer session bothered the American any, he didn't show it; looking determined, he charged forward. Seconds before he would make impact, Cheng ducked down, performing a simple and neat sweep kick, swiping the boy's feet right out from under him.

"Enough! Stop fighting!" Meiying screamed, trying to run forward, but Liang caught hold of her, shoving her behind him to prevent her from interfering with the the fight. She sent him a betrayed glare, but he just impassively turned his gaze back to the fight. Meanwhile, Qing and Jiayi bent down and tugged the American back onto his feet, taunting him, encouraging him to finish the fight he started.

"Come on, don't stop now!"

"Yeah, go hit him!"

"You started the fight, finish it!"

"Show no mercy because he's definitely not gonna show you any."

The American jerked his arms out of their grasp, looking from Jiayi to Qing to Feng to Xiang as they encouraged him to fight. Finally, he looked at Meiying, a hopelessly confused expression on his face.

"He can't understand us," Jiayi said, rolling her eyes when she figured out the problem. Switching to English, she gave the boy a push toward Cheng. "**Go get him!**"

Understanding dawned in the boy's eyes and he turned back toward Cheng, who was starting to smirk in amusement at his friends' antics.

"**Go! Go! Go! Go!**" everyone else chanted, erupting into cheers when the American ran at Cheng again.

Cheng stepped forward to meet the boy's reckless attack, easily flipping him right over his shoulder. The boy landed squarely on his back, letting out a strangled yelp of pain as the wind was knocked out of him.

"Yes!" Cheng's friends cheered, slapping triumphant high fives with each other.

The blonde boy from before, who Cheng and his friends vaguely recognized as Harry from their grade, nervously stood before the American, trying to reason with Cheng. Cheng listened for maybe three seconds before rolling his eyes skyward in irritation.

"Leave," he ordered, pointing off in a random direction. The American blonde, knowing how to pick his battles, hung his head and backed off as ordered, returning to the three friends he'd been playing basketball with. Yang patted his shoulder as he retook his spot beside him. As Harry melted back into the crowd that had formed around them, the new kid got up shakily and ran an arm across his eyes twice, his bottom lip trembling. He lunged forward, swinging his fist, but Cheng caught it effortlessly; two kicks, and the boy was sent crumbling to the ground again.

"Let me go!" Meiying screamed, ripping away from Liang slackened grip. She shoved her way past Feng and Xiang and ran up to Cheng, grabbing his shoulder and forcefully turning him around to yell in his face. "That's enough! Stop fighting! You promised you'd be more accepting!"

Cheng just stared at her, eyes narrowed slightly in annoyance. He opens his mouth to speak when Jiayi suddenly sauntered forward, draping an arm over Meiying's tense shoulders.

"Relax," she said cheerfully, "He challenged us."

"He didn't know what he was getting himself into," Meiying hissed, infuriated with Jiayi's carefree way of handling the situation. "You said you wouldn't do anything unreasonable!"

Jiayi pouted. "This _has_ a reason."

"_What_ reason could you _possibly_ have?" Meiying screeched.

"Like I said before, we don't have to justify anything we do to _you_," Cheng broke in, glaring at Meiying. Wheeling back around, he glared down at the American. "**You want to fight?**"

Suddenly, to everyone's shock, the boy shot up and knocked Cheng down. Jiayi's eyebrows shot up while Meiying's heart skipped a beat; was it possible that someone outside of Cheng's inner circle of friends could actually beat him or at least pose a challenge?

Evidently, the American boy had merely got in a lucky shot; after being knocked down, Cheng jumped right back up as if he had never landed on the ground in the first place and continued beating Dre into the ground with sharp, simple blows. Jiayi's hand tightened on Meiying's shoulder as Liang grabbed her other arm when she tried to throw herself forward in the American boy's defense. Finally, Cheng straddled the boy and delivered a strong blow to his eye.

Sensing that the fight was over, Jiayi and Liang released Meiying, who shot them dirty looks before scurrying over to Cheng. She grabbed him and shoved him off the American, giving him the most hateful glare she could. "You don't have a heart, do you?"

He glared back, not saying a word, before walking away to his friends, who welcomed him back with hearty pats on the back. Meiying pushed her anger and sudden hatred for them aside and crouched down next to the American, who was curled on his side, pressing both hands to the eye Cheng had punched.

"**Are you okay?**" she asked softly, reaching out to help him up. Harry slowly approached too, but stopped short a few steps away.

"**I-I'm fine,**" the boy insisted, pushing her hands away. Meiying and Harry exchanged a glance and reluctantly backed away. Meiying went back to the bench to gather her scattered things and walked back to the new kid, setting his phone down next to him. Then, she walked away without a word, brushing past Cheng and his friends on the way out; she made sure to bump her shoulder against Cheng's as forcibly as she could—though she suspected that it hurt _her_ shoulder more than it hurt his.

* * *

As the excitement from the fight dulled down, Cheng and his friends left the courtyard as well.

"Well, if we had any doubt before, it's gone now," Jiayi chirped as they all made their way back to Liang's house.

"Yeah, she definitely hates us," Xiang said. Everyone turned and stared at Cheng, who was staring moodily ahead.

When he noticed their stares, he blinked. "Why are you all staring at me?"

The other six exchanged glances before Jiayi finally spoke up for them.

"Don't worry about today, Cheng," she said reassuringly, slinging her arm over her best friend's shoulders. "I'm sure Meiying will get over it eventually. I mean, all you gave that kid was a black eye, right?"

The others joined in, throwing in their own two cents.

Cheng smiled at his friends' attempts at cheering him up. "Thanks guys."

* * *

**MHJ:** I'm super excited to share the rest of the chapters. Out of all of them, I think this one may be the worst so please don't leave if this chapter wasn't up to your liking. I'm planning on adding a lot more romance between Cheng and Jiayi :) So if anything, stick around for that! ;) I've got a new system for writing now: I write as much as I can when I have time to write, but I don't upload them asap. That way, I won't fall behind on updating if I don't have time to write one week. Thus, chapters 3 and 4 are already completed. Next chapter will be up in about a week, maybe sooner, depending on how many reviews I get. ;D


	3. Lunchtime Quarrel

_Previously..._

_As the excitement from the fight dulled down, Cheng and his friends left the courtyard as well._

_"Well, if we had any doubt before, it's gone now," Jiayi chirped as they all made their way back to Liang's house._

_"Yeah, she definitely hates us," Xiang said. Everyone turned and stared at Cheng, who was staring moodily ahead._

_When he noticed their stares, he blinked. "Why are you all staring at me?"_

_The other six exchanged glances before Jiayi finally spoke up for them._

_"Don't worry about today, Cheng," she said reassuringly, slinging her arm over her best friend's shoulders. "I'm sure Meiying will get over it eventually. I mean, all you gave that kid was a black eye, right?"_

_The others joined in, throwing in their own two cents._

_Cheng smiled at his friends' attempts at cheering him up. "Thanks guys."_

Chapter 3

Dre Parker had been in China for less than a whole day, and he already hated the country. First, he was beaten up within hours of his arrival in the foreign nation; then his mother failed to receive the notice that students only wore their uniforms on _uniform day_—and to top it all off, Beijing High School was _huge_.

Schedule in hand, Dre wandered silently through the halls, eyes flashing from door to door in search of his first class. Noticing from the clock on the wall that he only had a few minutes to get to his class, he slapped a hand to his forehead in frustration, muttering, "**Argh! I hate new schools!**"

"**Don't you know we only wear our uniforms on uniform day?**" A giggle suddenly echoed from behind him and a slim wrist popped over his shoulder, snatching his schedule out of his hand deftly. Whirling around, Dre came face to face with a petite girl clad in cozy sweatpants and a t-shirt. Her long raven hair was swept back in a loose bun with spiky, feathery bangs hanging just before her eyes. Her dark eyes glittered playfully as she looked over his schedule with a sly smirk on her lips.

Dre tensed, a snappy remark frozen on his tongue. He recognized the girl and her impish looks.

She glanced up at him, amused with his silence. "**Lost, Parker?**"

"**My name's Dre!**" Dre snapped, balling up his fists defensively. "**Why're you even talking to me? You're friends with that guy who gave me this!**" Angrily, he gestured to his eye, which was badly covered up with his mother's concealer.

The girl chuckled and handed his schedule back. "**Yeah, Cheng has a mean hook.**" She held out a hand and smiled innocently—almost too innocently. "**I am Jiayi. Nice to meet you.**"

Cautiously, Dre took her hand and shook it.

She didn't flip him over her shoulder or suddenly put him in a headlock or anything, and as soon as she released his hand, he snatched it back, still eyeing her suspiciously.

"**I saw you have Miss Li's class,**" Jiayi said cheerfully, her eyes crinkling into crescents when she grinned. "**Go down this hall, turn right, and three doors down.**"

Dre narrowed his eyes. "**Why are you helping me?**"

"**Cheng was mean yesterday. I be nice to make up,**" she replied innocently. Her eyes flickered to the clock in the hall. "**Better go if you don't want to be late. See you later, Parker.**" Without another word, she turned and flitted down the hall and through a door on the left.

Deciding he didn't really have any other choices, Dre tightened his fist on his paper and dashed down the hall in the direction Jiayi had told him to go.

Meanwhile, Cheng looked up when Jiayi slipped into her seat beside him just as the late bell rang in the hall. There was a proud, smug smirk on her face and her eyes danced with laughter.

"Where'd you run off to?" he asked curiously as they took out their textbooks and paper.

Jiayi turned and met his gaze squarely, a wide grin stretching his face. "Let's just say the new kid, Dre Parker, will be pretty pissed off when he realizes that the room I told him was Miss Li's is actually Mr. Shu's."

Cheng blinked before an equally nasty grin emerged on his face. "You didn't."

"I did," Jiayi confirmed happily.

"You," Cheng laughed, knocking his fist against hers, "are pretty awesome."

"Don't you forget it," she replied, turning away to face the board.

* * *

"He isn't a bad person. He's sweet, nice, funny, and probably wants nothing more than to make some friends. I mean, think about it. He's all alone in a strange country with customs and traditions completely foreign to him. Can't you guys just be a little more sensitive and try to understand how he might see things? Jiayi? Jiayi, are you even listening to me?"

"Yes, I'm listening," Jiayi replied, rolling her eyes at the annoyed look Meiying was giving her. She had been defending Dre Parker the entire walk from their classroom to the cafeteria. "Why are you telling me this anyway?"

Meiying sighed. "Can you please talk to Cheng and try to get him to be nicer?"

"I can't control Cheng."

"You're his best friend! I know he'll listen if you talk to him."

"You don't understand, Meiying—"

"What don't I understand?" Meiying suddenly snapped, her patience gone. Her brown eyes glittered with anger. "Why is it so hard to do something nice for someone who doesn't have any friends or understandings of our culture?"

"First of all, Parker isn't friendless," Jiayi snapped back. "He's got you and Harry. Maybe he'll make more. Second of all, keep your nose out of other people's business. If you want Cheng to stop, then talk to him yourself. Don't talk about things like you know both sides of the story." From the corner of her eye, she spotted Qing also making his way toward the lunchroom. "I'll see you later, Meiying."

Without another word, she stormed off, feeling her frustration ebb away as she approached her friend.

"What's wrong?" Qing asked curiously when she caught up with him.

Breathing out her negative energies, Jiayi smiled with her usual sunny disposition. "Nothing. Meiying was just trying to get me to talk to Cheng about being nicer to Parker."

Qing quirked an eyebrow. "Who's Parker?"

"Dre Parker," Jiayi said. "That's the new kid."

"Dre Parker," Qing repeated, testing the foreign name out. The sounds fell over his tongue clumsily.

Jiayi laughed sympathetically. "Yeah, I can't pronounce his first name either. 'Parker' is easier to say though."

Pushing through the cafeteria doors, the two stepped into the lunch line, moving through it swiftly. With their trays in hand, they turned, immediately spotting Liang already sitting at their table. He was eating absently, eyes never leaving the book he had laid out on the table.

He didn't bother glancing up when they sat down and merely grunted in response to their greetings.

"What class is that for?" Qing asked, tilting his head in an effort to read Liang's book.

"Not for a class," Liang muttered back. "You should read this; it's really good."

"Must be good if you're this distracted," Jiayi remarked, picking a bit of food off of Liang's nearly forgotten tray.

He brushed her away absentmindedly. "Go eat your own lunch."

"Speaking of lunches," Qing said through a mouth full of rice, "did you guys know that—"

Before he could finish, someone suddenly slammed their hands down on the table, causing all three teenagers to jump. Dre stood there, hands still planted firmly on the table. Liang, Qing, and Jiayi stared at him oddly, dumbstruck that he actually had the nerve to go up to them and slam his hands down on their table like that. Then they realized he wasn't just glaring at them in general—he was glaring at Jiayi.

Snapping out of her surprise, she grinned widely. "**Ah, Parker! Did you find Miss Li's class?**"

Cheng must have already told the others about her little prank on the new kid, because none of them looked the slightest bit confused at her words. Qing stifled his snickers while Liang just smirked at his book.

"**You jerk!**" Dre growled, narrowing his eyes at her, trying and failing to look threatening. "**You sent me to the wrong room! Her room was on the left!**"

"**Oh,**" Jiayi said, frowning. She shrugged and smiled sheepishly, but the devilish gleam in her laughing eyes betrayed her amusement. "**I probably mix up right and left. Sorry.**"

It was a blatant lie and they both knew it. Other than the heavy accent in her voice, Jiayi's English was more than proficient. Dre's expression darkened.

"**Liar!**" he yelled. Silence fell in the lunchroom and everyone turned to stare at their table.

At his yell, the amused grins on Qing and Liang's faces fell.

"**Hey,**" Qing growled. "**Watch who you're yelling at.**"

At that, Dre seemed to finally realize that Jiayi wasn't sitting alone. His face paled slightly when he recognized Qing and Liang, who had finally tore his gaze away from his book. Dre, recovering his composure, glared back at Qing, probably feeling less threatened due to Qing's innocently childish looks.

"**Walk away while you can, Parker,**" Liang added in a warning tone.

Clenching his fists, Dre turned and walked away stiffly, fully aware of how the table of three burst out laughing as he did.

"Did you see how scared he was?" Jiayi asked.

"Gosh, who does he think he is?" Qing grumbled, rolling his eyes. "After Cheng beat him up, you'd think he'd be wary of crossing his friends."

"Who cares about him," Liang muttered, turning back to his book. Just then, Cheng appeared at the cafeteria doorway, flanked by Zhuang, Xiang, and Feng; parting ways with the other three—all of whom were a grade above and didn't have the same lunch period—Cheng strode into the room, took note of the silence in the room that was only just starting to disappear, and quickly made his way towards their table, completely forgoing lunch for the moment.

"What happened?" Cheng asked in amusement, claiming a seat beside Jiayi, snatching her chopsticks out of her hand. Deftly, he shoveled some rice into his mouth before she snatched the chopsticks back.

"Dre Parker, the new kid, just tried to intimidate Jiayi," Qing responded.

Cheng raised his eyebrows.

"He what?" he asked, irritation starting to leak into his voice. Not only was the American boy hitting on Meiying, he was also picking fights with his friends? He had some nerve.

"He came over here, slammed his hands down, and shouted at Jiayi for her little prank this morning," Liang explained.

Cheng's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "That little punk…"

"Speaking of that little punk," Jiayi suddenly said. "Don't look now, but he's talking to Meiying again."

They all turned to look at the lunch line, where Meiying stood beside Dre, helping him load up his bowl. Cheng's jaw tightened.

"Where is Feng when you need him?" he grumbled, staring at the pair intensely. "I don't suppose any of you suddenly improved your skills of reading lips."

"That's usually Feng's department," Qing said ruefully. He and Jiayi looked up and stared at the pair as well, brows furrowed as they tried to discern what the two were talking about.

"I think Meiying's apologizing for your actions at the park," Jiayi said, grinning in amusement.

Qing nodded, squinting his eyes. "Uh, Parker just asked if you and Meiying were...what does **dating** mean?"

"It means dating," Jiayi replied.

Qing nodded. "Okay, Meiying said no...I think Parker told Meiying he thinks you like her."

"I don't think she believes him though," Jiayi added when she caught the slightly mortified look in Cheng's dark eyes.

"She's leaving," Liang suddenly stated.

Jiayi nodded. "Yeah, I think she has violin practice today. Now's your chance, Cheng."

"Perfect," Cheng purred, standing up. Quite confident even without his friends flanking him, he walked towards Dre, who was still staring after Meiying with a dazed expression. Annoyance surging through Cheng, he casually strode up from behind the American. In one swift motion, Cheng's hand slipped under the American's tray and slammed it up, managing to splatter everything on it onto Dre's orange uniform shirt and make it look like an accident at the same time. The cafeteria fell silent as the metal tray and bowls clashed to the floor.

"**Oh,**" Cheng said, starting to grin. "**Sorry.**"

"**Dude, what's your problem?**" Dre snapped, surging forward to shove Cheng back a step. He tried to make a follow-up attack, but Mrs. Po grabbed him before he could.

"**Mr. Parker, stop it!**" she exclaimed, looking disappointed in the new student. Cheng swiftly hid his smirk when Dre pointed at him accusingly.

"**He slammed my tray all over me!**" he yelled, glaring at Cheng.

"I already apologized for the accident, and he still attacked me!" Cheng argued, looking offended by the American's accusation. In the background, Cheng's table of friends was doubled over in silent laughter.

"**Whatever he's saying, he's lying!**" Dre interrupted sharply, pointing an accusing finger at him again. Cheng mentally rolled his eyes at that; what if he had actually taken the blame? The stupid American wouldn't even realize he was denying the truth until it was too late. What an idiot.

"**Mr. Parker, go. Mr. Cheng, go,**" Mrs. Po said sternly, pushing the two in opposite directions. Smirking triumphantly, Cheng sauntered back to his table as Dre stormed out of the cafeteria, yelling, "**I hate this place!**"

"Nicely done," Jiayi remarked when the three returned to the table. "Unfortunately, I think Meiying saw."

At that, Cheng tensed, and his eyes flickered to the door. Sure enough, Meiying stood in the doorway, her sad eyes turning angry when they made contact with his; with a huff, she turned and stormed out of the cafeteria.

With a groan, Cheng turned back to his table, banging his head down onto the table. Jiayi reached over patted his shoulder sympathetically.

* * *

**MHJ:** Hope you all enjoyed that :D I'm off to run the marathon tomorrow! Wish me luck! xD


	4. Hallway Confrontation

**MHJ: **Hello everyone! Long time eh? This might sound a little arrogant, but I'm surprised that hardly any of you (literally only 1 person) reviewed the last chapter... Anywaysss, for my fellow high schoolers out there, you know what today is... SAT SCORES ARE OUT! 800 ON MATH II OH YESSSS! XD Ahem, right, onto the story!

* * *

_Previously..._

_"**Whatever he's saying, he's lying!**" Dre interrupted sharply, pointing an accusing finger at him again. Cheng mentally rolled his eyes at that; what if he had actually taken the blame? The stupid American wouldn't even realize he was denying the truth until it was too late. What an idiot._

_"**Mr. Parker, go. Mr. Cheng, go,**" Mrs. Po said sternly, pushing the two in opposite directions. Smirking triumphantly, Cheng sauntered back to his table as Dre stormed out of the cafeteria, yelling, "**I hate this place!**"_

_"Nicely done," Jiayi remarked when the three returned to the table. "Unfortunately, I think Meiying saw."_

_At that, Cheng tensed, and his eyes flickered to the door. Sure enough, Meiying stood in the doorway, her sad eyes turning angry when they made contact with his; with a huff, she turned and stormed out of the cafeteria._

_With a groan, Cheng turned back to his table, banging his head down onto the table. Jiayi reached over patted his shoulder sympathetically._

Chapter 4

"No way."

"Yes way."

"You're a liar."

"Please, Cheng, why would I lie when I can brag?"

"She's got a point there. Bragging is what Jiayi does best."

"Aw, Liang, you flatter me."

Cheng crossed his arms stubbornly, leaning back in his seat. "I still don't believe you improved your record of picking locks by a whole half minute."

He, Jiayi, Liang, and Qing were currently in English class, which was currently headed by a substitute for their sick teacher. Huddled in the back corner, Cheng and Jiayi had spent the past ten minutes of class making quiet conversation with Qing and Liang, who sat directly in front of them, occasionally turning around to add their own comments.

"Then time me," Jiayi stated, smiling smugly. "After school, at Qing's house or something—"

"Don't I get any say in this?" Qing sighed exasperatedly.

Jiayi carried on as if he'd never interrupted. "If I win, you take me to the Qi Xi Festival and buy me whatever food and treats I want."

"Fine," Cheng snapped without thinking the proposition through, as he usually did when he made bets. "If _I_ win, then _you're_ buying _me_ whatever food and treats _I_ want at the Qi Xi Festival."

"You're on," Jiayi sneered, a large grin on her face as she shook Cheng's hand firmly. Just then, with perfect timing, the lunch bell rang, signaling for their grade to break for lunch. Immediately, the class emptied and a crowd of students flooded the courtyard for their hour-long lunch period.

"Finally," Cheng sighed, shoving his things into his bag.

"Why the rush?" Jiayi laughed, taking her time in gathering her stuff. Leaving her bag on her desk like the others, she grinned teasingly as they headed out the door. "Excited to see Meiying?"

Liang chuckled while Qing and Jiayi cheekily made kissy faces at Cheng, who reddened and swatted at the two of them. They dodged nimbly, still laughing.

"Shut up, you guys," Cheng grumbled, annoyed, but a comfortable smile claimed his face anyway.

Entering the cafeteria, Jiayi skipped over to the line and took one look at the day's menu before she suddenly jumped back with a small squeak, a definite green tinge on her face. "All of a sudden, I've lost my appetite."

Cheng, Liang, and Qing peeked at the menu—lo mein noodles.

"Are you still freaked out over that incident with your cousin?" Qing chortled.

"You would too if you realized the noodles you just ate were still squirming in your mouth!" Jiayi retorted, turning greener. She shuddered at the thought. "I think I'll skip lunch today. Maybe I'll go watch Meiying practice." Suddenly, she laughed. "Wow, that sounded like something Cheng would say."

"Will you shut up already?" Cheng snapped, shaking his head exasperatedly. Jiayi shrugged.

"Either way, I'm definitely not sticking around for lunch," she said, slinking off towards the other exit. "See you guys later!"

"You two hungry?" Cheng asked, glancing at his two friends. Both shook their heads.

"Not after Jiayi reminded us of Mengyao's prank," Qing said, shuddering like Jiayi had. Liang nodded in agreement.

"Do you guys want to see if we can get our math tests back early?" he asked.

Qing's face lit up. "Yeah! I bet if _I_ asked, Miss Li would definitely give us our tests!" His face grew smug. "You know how the teachers can't resist my pretty face."

"You mean babyish face?" Cheng teased. Qing pouted adorably, leading the other two to burst out laughing as they left the cafeteria and headed towards the stairs. Still poking fun at Qing's childishly cute face, they jogged up the stairs and turned into the first classroom on their right.

At the teacher's desk, Miss Li, the youngest teacher currently teaching at Beijing High School, looked up when the three boys walked in. Immediately, Qing switched on his charm. Widening his eyes with a childish glee, he bounced over to her desk.

"Hi Miss Li!" he chirped, his grin threatening to split his face in two. "We were wondering if you were done grading our math tests yet."

Like almost everyone in Beijing High School, Miss Li couldn't resist Qing's charm. She smiled. "As a matter of fact, I am. Would you three like them back?"

They nodded; Liang and Cheng rolled their eyes in unison as Qing turned to give them a triumphant grin as Miss Li turned away to pull out a manila folder. She rifled through it before extracting three papers.

"Cheng, Liang, Qing," she murmured, handing them out to each person respectively. A bright red ninety-eight was scrawled atop Cheng and Qing's papers while a bright hundred was displayed on Liang's. "Nicely done, you three. Top of the class again, Liang."

Liang positively beamed while Cheng and Qing just nodded approvingly at their test scores.

"Can we have Jiayi's test to give to her?" Cheng then asked, rolling up his test into a tube.

Miss Li hesitated. Normally, she would never trust a student's test with another student, but even she knew of the tight bonds between Cheng and his unique little pack of friends. Smiling softly, she nodded, pulling out Jiayi's test as well. "Take care of it, Cheng. I normally wouldn't allow this."

"No worries, ma'am," he replied politely, accepting his best friend's test. Absentmindedly, he noted how she had scored a point better than him and Qing with her grade of ninety-nine.

"Thanks Miss Li," they chorused, waving as they left her classroom.

"Top of the class again, eh, Liang?" Qing teased as they headed for the stairs to return to the cafeteria.

Liang shrugged, looking both smug and proud. "Naturally. You guys came pretty close though."

"Jiayi came closer," Cheng replied, waving his friend's test.

"I came closer to what?" an amused voice said just as they reached the top of the stairs. Standing at the top steps was Jiayi, grinning impishly, which to be fair was her usual expression anyways.

"You almost matched Liang," Cheng told her, handing out her math test. Her face lit up at the ninety-nine written in the corner.

"Awesome," she exclaimed appreciatively, taking her test in her hands. She skimmed it over once, locating the one area she lost points in, before looking up. "By the way, I just came from the auditorium. Meiying's pretty good at her song now, but I can totally understand her tutor when he says she's missing something in the music."

"Oh?" Liang asked, raising his eyebrows. "Like what?"

"Focus," Jiayi said, her signature smile disappearing for a brief second as she sighed. "Guess who barged into the auditorium in the middle of her practice?"

"Other than you?" Cheng snorted.

"Well, at least I knew not to disrupt her practice," Jiayi protested. "But the moment the tutor walked away to call Meiying's parents to schedule a weekend session, Parker just—"

"Parker again?" Cheng exclaimed, cheeks flushing in anger. Immediately, he started stalking down the stairs with his friends trailing behind. "He's even hindering her practice now?"

"Yeah, he grabs the microphone and sputters out some gibberish that apparently was supposed to be Chinese," Jiayi said, rolling her eyes.

"You've got to admit, this kid's got nerves," Qing quipped.

"Yeah," Liang agreed quietly. "This is the third time he's crossed us. Maybe we ought to intimidate him some more?"

They all laughed at that and, reaching the bottom of the staircase, turned into the corridor. Immediately, they slowed to a stop, having come face to face with the very subject of their conversation. Frozen in his tracks the moment he laid eyes on them, Dre stood rooted to the ground, fear creeping into his eyes.

A grin wide enough to rival Jiayi's usual expression appeared on Cheng's face.

"**Hey!**" he greeted in a falsely excited voice. Immediately, Dre turned and started to walk away briskly, but Cheng, Qing, Liang, and Jiayi quickly walked faster, surrounding him easily.

"**Can I touch your hair?**" Cheng teased, pulling at the new kid's braids in a mockery imitation of Meiying. Dre was silent as he backed away—right into a corner, which was unfortunate for him. Seeming to be steeling himself, he slid his backpack off his shoulder, allowing it to drop to the floor.

Qing and Jiayi smirked and seized the opportunity Dre gave them; they grabbed the backpack and roughly tugged it open, emptying its contents onto the floor before tossing the backpack at Liang, who took aim and kicked it so hard that it flew up and hit the ceiling before falling back to the ground.

"**Gonna do something?**" Cheng sneered into Dre's face, half hoping the American was foolish enough to challenge him to another fight. He glared at the smaller boy, but when Dre didn't respond—didn't even look him in the eyes—Cheng stepped away.

"**Just stay away from us,**" he snarled. Jiayi nudged his shoulder, nodding her head towards the auditorium door when he glanced at her. Understanding her message and glad she caught the loophole in his order, Cheng looked back at Dre. "**All of us.**"

Feeling satisfied and smug, Cheng gestured to his friends and walked off without casting a single look back. As they passed him, Qing kicked Dre's backpack further down the hall while Liang kicked at a textbook that had fallen out.

Jiayi tugged on one of Dre's braids as she left. "**Don't mess with us, Parker.**"

Then, confidently, the four friends strode away.

* * *

"Well, hopefully he'll heed your warning," Zhuang said cheerfully later that afternoon as the gang traveled in a pack down the street towards Qing's house. After the group had met up after school ended, Qing had wasted no time in filling in his older friends on the events that happened during lunch.

Xiang snorted. "Come on. Parker's ignored our warnings the first three times. You think he's actually going to listen?"

"Well, no helping it now," Jiayi cut in as they turned onto Qing's lawn. Stopping at the door, she reached towards her hair and pulled out two bobby pins from her dark locks. "Ready, Cheng?"

"What are you guys doing?" Feng asked in amusement.

"Cheng bet me unlimited treats at the Qi Xi Festival that I couldn't crack this lock in a minute," Jiayi exclaimed. "I'm about to prove him wrong and win the bet."

"I've got the timer ready," Liang spoke up, thumb hovering over the screen of his iPhone. "Ready…go!"

Jiayi stabbed the bobby pins into the keyhole of Qing's front door, the tip of her pink tongue sticking out a bit as she wiggled the pins back and forth.

"You know," Feng suddenly said. "We could totally make the best bandit group in the world. We've got kung fu in our arsenal and Jiayi's awesome lock-picking."

"That," Liang said, nodding in agreement, "or Jiayi could totally become a member of some illegal gang one day. I mean, even Cheng can't beat up little kids or girls. But Jiayi? Hand her five RMB and she'd gladly punch a five-year-old in the face."

"I would charge much more than just five RMB to punch a five-year-old in the face," Jiayi cut in dryly. Feng and Liang chuckled. A faint click was heard and, with a grin, Jiayi stood up and opened the now-unlocked door. Turning to Liang, she asked, "Time?"

"Forty-two seconds," Liang said, an impressed look in his surprised eyes. "Well done."

"Hah!" Jiayi cheered, whirling to Cheng, who glared at her. She smiled and pinched his cheek. "Better bring your wallet on the day of the Qi Xi Festival, Cheng!"

* * *

**MHJ:** Okay, so lately I've been considering getting rid of the A/N's at the beginning at each chapter. I mean, does anyone even read them? What do you guys think? And also, I am SO CLOSE to being done with junior year. I have 2 English projects (due June 10 and June 19 respectively), 1 biology project (due June 11), the SAT (June 1), the ACT (June 8), and then school finals (June 20, 21, and 24). So, to sum it up, I am going to be quite busy for the next month until school ends. I'll try to squeeze in another chapter after the SATs are over, but no guarantees! Please bear with me! ^_^ Leave a review~~


	5. Feng and Biyu

**MHJ: **Sup guys! :D So recently I have made some new accounts on various websites. Anyone heard of Pinterest? I've recently become HOOKED on it...kinda. I only get really into the zone with pinning things when I have some big essay or project to do...kind of bad. Other than that, I've also made a Fictionpress (the sister website to Fanfiction btw). I'll talk a bit more about that at the end of the chapter! :) Okay, blabbing is done, read on~~

* * *

_Previously..._

_"**Just stay away from us,**" he snarled. Jiayi nudged his shoulder, nodding her head towards the auditorium door when he glanced at her. Understanding her message and glad she caught the loophole in his order, Cheng looked back at Dre. "**All of us.**"_

_Feeling satisfied and smug, Cheng gestured to his friends and walked off without casting a single look back. As they passed him, Qing kicked Dre's backpack further down the hall while Liang kicked at a textbook that had fallen out._

_Jiayi tugged on one of Dre's braids as she left. "**Don't mess with us, Parker.**"_

_Then, confidently, the four friends strode away._

Chapter 5

The class was just beginning to wrap up when Cheng noticed it—and when he did, he wanted to smack himself in the face out of disbelief at his best friend's carelessness. Given that he was in the middle of kung fu class, however, he settled for mentally sighing in exasperation and glaring across the room every so often, trying to draw Jiayi's attention with his eyes.

The stupid girl was just asking for trouble. When Master Li caught her, she was going to be dipped in boiling oil and made into a human tempura.

Deeply engaged in a whispered conversation with Biyu, the only other girl in their class, Jiayi was completely oblivious to all the troubles he was going through to try to save her sorry hide.

The Fighting Dragon didn't discriminate against the female population; there were plenty of female students fighting alongside the male ones. The advanced classes, however, were admittedly biased toward boys; out of the two advanced classes offered at the Fighting Dragon, there were only about five girls.

Cheng nearly face-palmed himself again when Jiayi scoffed a little too loudly at something Biyu whispered, and at her scoff, Master Li's sharp eyes flickered toward her.

"Jiayi, come here."

The order, though softly spoken, cut through the air with the ease of a steak knife through butter. Immediately, a hush fell over the class, and the two teenagers currently sparring in the center of the ring ceased action. Slowly, with a slightly guilty look on her face, Jiayi stood up and slunk over to stand before their master, looking down at the floor like a child who had been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to do.

"Do I tolerate inattentiveness in my class?" Master Li asked, eyes cold.

Jiayi shook her head, looking severely odd without her usual grin. "No, sir."

Silently, Master Li stood up; immediately, Jiayi imperceptibly flinched, expecting a strike to her face for her lack of focus. Master Li stared at her for a second before nodding his head toward the two students still standing in the center where they had been sparring moments before. "Go join them. Two to one. Until class ends."

Pleasant surprise that she had escaped corporal punishment flickered across Jiayi's face before she realized that she was just told to fight two of her classmates at once. A spar against _one_ student was already enough of a challenge. A look of indifference masking her face again, and she quickly dipped her head in a bow. "Yes, sir."

With that, she turned toward the two boys who had been sparring and, with a determined expression, slammed her fists in a sign of respect. In unison, the three bowed to each other before assuming their stances.

To be fair, Jiayi deserved a considerable amount of credit, lasting against the two older students so well on her own. Though the two senior boys were stronger, Jiayi proved to be faster. Besides knocking one down, she also managed to land a solid kick in the other's gut. Ultimately, however, the two seniors overwhelmed Jiayi.

Two minutes into the fight, a powerful kick to the face sent Jiayi spiraling to the ground. Before she could get back up, the other boy quickly dropped an ax-kick into her gut. Everyone winced at the strangled noise Jiayi choked out, but they all knew it was unavoidable; Master Li's usual foul mood would have grown fouler had the spar ended any less mercilessly.

"Good," Master Li said with a sadistically satisfied smirk. He walked over to Jiayi, who had rolled onto her side and was gasping in much-appreciated oxygen. "I trust you will not let your attention drift anymore during class." She nodded wordlessly. Master Li nodded, turning to the rest of the class. His eyes flashed around and he barked, "Class dismissed."

Cheng's fists loosened—funny, he didn't remember clenching them—and he immediately rushed over to Jiayi, closely followed by their other friends. Crouching down next to her, he gave her a sympathetic look. "You okay?"

"Yeah," wheezed Jiayi, accepting the hand Liang held out to her. "Guess I had it coming."

Cheng's eyes caught the reddened area on Jiayi's cheekbone that was starting to bruise. He reached out, brushing the tips of his fingers over the swollen area, noting her wince. "Ooh, that's going to bruise."

"What were you and Biyu talking about anyway?" Xiang asked as Liang helped Jiayi stand. As a group, they headed for their bags, which they had tossed carelessly against the wall before class.

As if he'd uttered the magic words, all of Jiayi's usual giddiness flowed back into her. Her eyes lit up and, with a wide grin, she whipped her head around and stared directly at Feng for a good few seconds before spontaneously bursting into a fit of uncontrollable giggles. "Let's just say _someone_ isn't going to be single for long!"

Feng's eyes narrowed. "What are you—"

"Feng?" a voice cut in from behind the group. They turned and Jiayi's grin impossibly widened. A sixteen-year-old girl with shoulder-length bleached blond hair stood, fidgeting slightly with the straps of her duffle bag. Her eyes flickered around the rest of the gang briefly in greeting before snapping back to Feng.

"Oh, hey, Biyu," Feng replied, casting a confused glance at Jiayi, who had started to inconspicuously nudge the others with barely suppressed giggles. "What's up?"

Biyu shifted her weight a little nervously, shooting a brief half-amused, half-annoyed look at Jiayi. "Well, I was wondering if you'd like to hang out with me some time. You know, outside of school and kung fu?"

Silence prevailed as Feng stared at his classmate. After a few seconds, Qing not-so-discreetly elbowed him in the gut, snapping him back to reality.

"U-uh, w-w-well, sure!" Feng stammered, a goofy grin spreading over his face. "T-that'd b-be p-p-pretty awesome!"

Biyu grinned, relief flashing in her eyes, and she straightened with her usual confidence. "Great! I'll see you in class tomorrow then? We can talk about plans then."

"Y-yeah, n-n-no problem," Feng stuttered. "See you t-tomorrow then!"

Giggling, Biyu waved and left the dojo, catching up with some of the other students. The moment she was out of sight, everyone burst into chatter.

"Oh my gosh, Feng, she _likes_ you!"

"This is so insane. You have to tell us _everything_ about you two from now on!"

"Ooh, my man here is a player!"

"Would you mind if we stalked you on your date?"

"Don't be silly, of course he wouldn't mind!"

Finally, Jiayi cleared her throat loudly. When everyone quieted and turned to her, she gave Feng a broad grin. "I say we go out to lunch to celebrate this momentous event!"

"Hear, hear!" Zhuang and Xiang chanted. As one, the group of teenagers grabbed their bags and stumbled out of the dojo in laughter.

"I say we go for noodles!" Qing cheered excitedly.

Jiayi grimaced. "No thanks, squirt. How about hot pot instead?"

"Sound good," Feng said.

The moment the words left Feng's mouth, Liang clapped a hand on his shoulder. "There we go, lady and gentlemen. The man of the hour has given his approval for a hot pot restaurant, which—might I add—is conveniently down the road!"

"Oh please," Cheng laughed. "Jiayi hardly counts as a lady."

Jiayi gave an insulted gasp, dramatically turning her nose up daintily. "Why, I never!"

"Don't be silly, Cheng," Liang responded, grinning cheekily. A devious look surfaced in his eyes and he danced before the group, walking backwards to keep facing them. "Jiayi is an exceptional lady; the little tomboy we all knew when we were young has truly blossomed to a beautiful young woman." His hand flew out, catching Jiayi's slimmer one, and he raised it to his lips, pressing his lips lightly against the back of her hand.

He lingered there dramatically for a moment before he, Jiayi, and nearly everyone else suddenly doubled over in laughter.

"Only Liang could do that to Jiayi and get away with it," Qing howled.

Feng shook his head furiously, struggling to catch his breath. "No, no, only Liang could say those things _that_ seriously and still be able to pass it off as a joke!"

With a straight face, Jiayi clasped her hands to her chest, batting her eyelashes almost shyly. "Aw, dearest Liang, I am so flattered!" She slanted her dark eyes to her right, grinning slyly at Cheng. "At least _someone_ in this group recognizes my radiance."

Cheng, however, did not laugh or even roll his eyes like she expected him to. Instead, he had an incredibly surly look painted on his face.

Liang cocked his head. "Why the grumpy face, Cheng?"

Jiayi's face suddenly lit up. She leaned closer to Cheng, wiggling her eyebrows mischievously. "Is someone jealous?"

Cheng nearly jumped a foot into the air.

"_What_?" he snarled. "No! Don't be ridiculous! Who'd want to date _you_?"

Jiayi flinched back, lips instantly turning into a frown. "Relax, Cheng. I was just kidding around." Still pouting angrily, she sped up slightly to be the first through the entrance to the hot pot restaurant.

The other boys, ever protective over the only girl in their tightly knit group, glared at Cheng.

"That was way harsh," Xiang scolded.

"Yeah, calm down a bit, okay?" Zhuang added.

Cheng sighed, scowl lessening into something more neutral. "I know, I know. Sorry."

"It's not us you should be apologizing to," Liang replied coolly, following the others through the door. Cheng sighed heavily again and quickly dashed after them.

They quickly claimed a round table and placed their orders.

Seated next to Jiayi, who had begun to fiddle with her napkin as the others chatted amongst themselves, Cheng shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Finally, he reached over, nudging Jiayi's arm. She glanced over at him casually, but he nearly flinched anyway at the accusing look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled almost incomprehensibly. She sighed, knowing that just the act of apologizing was a big deal to Cheng.

Therefore, instead of demanding a better apology, she shrugged and smiled. "It's okay."

Liang, who had been eavesdropping secretly from Jiayi's other side, grinned. "Glad you two made up."

This caught everyone else's attention and dispelled the tense atmosphere that had developed. After all, Jiayi was typically a happy person. Seeing her without a lively gleam in her eyes and a sly grin on her face was strange, and seeing her downhearted was heartbreaking—not to mention very guilt-inspiring for Cheng.

"Oh, Cheng, I almost forgot," Feng suddenly said, tapping his chopsticks absentmindedly. "What got you so fired up in the middle of practice today?"

"Yeah, I haven't seen you that pumped up since forever ago!" Qing exclaimed.

Cheng's face broke into a wide smile. "Oh, you guys are going to love this."

_"Get back into position!" Master Li barked._

_Having broken formation for the beginning warm-ups, the class quickly dashed to their assigned spots, clasping their hands behind their backs. Their stances were firm, their faces stoic. Master Li paced along the ring, glowering at each student. After completing a round, he returned to the center of the ring. "We will be going through the routine we practiced last class. Begin!"_

_The oldest student, a college boy, shouted out the command, "Bow!"_

_As one, the class slammed their fists into their open palms and bowed low to Master Li, who looked on stoically. Then, they were off—flowing through stances and movements with a scary and deadly grace. After a minute or so, they each slammed a hand down onto the floor, smashing the face of an invisible opponent, before snapping up and thrusting the heel of their palms into the chin of an imaginary foe. Routine complete, they returned to their soldier-like pose._

_"What have you learned here?" Master Li demanded._

_"No weakness, no pain, no mercy!" the students cried back. Master Li walked around them again, eying them frostily._

_"I said, what have you learned here?" he barked._

_"No weakness, no pain, no mercy!" the students bellowed back._

_Master Li tilted his head back slightly, pacified by the stronger response. "Begin again!"_

_Once again, the oldest student shouted the sign of respect, and the class bowed to their master again._

_Cheng was just about to straighten up again when, on a complete whim, he glanced up. A very familiar pair of eyes at the door met his. Surprise flooded Cheng before a malicious smirk rose to his face. Dre stood at the door, peering into the window; when they made eye contact, the ecstatic excitement in his eyes ebbed away._

_Master Li let out the starting yell and, at once, they all snapped into the first sequence of moves, after which they froze, awaiting the next yell. Throughout the beginning of the routine, Cheng kept eye contact with Dre, pouring all his effort and energy into his movements._

_All too soon, Dre backed away from the door, heavily downcast. Grin widening even more, Cheng barely resisted the urge to leap into the air in triumph. Instead, he restrained himself to expressing his high spirits through his kung fu, packing more power into his movements than he usually did._

At the end of his tale, the entire table was chortling loudly, much to the annoyance of the other customers.

"Guys," Jiayi said between giggles. "We should quiet down. Everyone's starting to look annoyed."

Slowly, the others ended their laughter and collectively sighed contentedly.

"Well, maybe _now_ he'll get the message and back off," Zhuang said with a smirk.

Xiang grabbed his water glass and raised it into the air. "I say we go out to celebrate _this_ event."

"Well, since we can't eat a second lunch," Qing began, "how about dinner at my house tonight?"

"Sounds like a plan," Feng said as everyone clinked their glasses together.

* * *

**MHJ:** Alright, back to talking about Fictionpress: I have started a new project there. It's gonna be a full-length novel! :D I'll give you guys the summary:

This story seems cruelly unfair. Shouldn't it be some random average person who gets dragged into life-changing danger? Why me, the "creepy" boy from the foster home with a reputation of being crazy? It began with a rabbit, wearing a waistcoat and brandishing strength that far surpassed my own. Now, killing is a game and my life is worth the most points. Welcome to Wonderland.

As you can probably tell, it's based off Alice in Wonderland. Don't expect a lot of fluffy innocent stuff though; this is gonna be some hard-core bloody action with adventure, a dash of romance, and some unexpected story twists ;) Check it out if you have time :) From now on, Fictionpress will have all of my serious creative projects~ Just wanted to let you guys know! ^_^


	6. The Maintenance Man I: The Chase

**MHJ:** Hi guys! My brain...is so mentally exhausted x.x Finals suck; I just want it to be summer already... SAT scores came out! Math and writing both 790 :D Reading...not so good lol. I think I'll take it again in fall, just focusing on the reading, so I can super score! :D I should probably start writing in a journal or something instead of ranting to you guys about things that you most likely don't even care about lol. Sorry guys!

Onto the stuff that you _do_ care about...time for one of the most anticipated (kinda) chapters in the story!

MR. HAN THE KICK-ASS MAINTENANCE MAN! :D:D:D Enjoy~

* * *

_Previously..._

_Cheng was just about to straighten up again when, on a complete whim, he glanced up. A very familiar pair of eyes at the door met his. Surprise flooded Cheng before a malicious smirk rose to his face. Dre stood at the door, peering into the window; when they made eye contact, the ecstatic excitement in his eyes ebbed away._

_Master Li let out the starting yell and, at once, they all snapped into the first sequence of moves, after which they froze, awaiting the next yell. Throughout the beginning of the routine, Cheng kept eye contact with Dre, pouring all his effort and energy into his movements._

_All too soon, Dre backed away from the door, heavily downcast. Grin widening even more, Cheng barely resisted the urge to leap into the air in triumph. Instead, he restrained himself to expressing his high spirits through his kung fu, packing more power into his movements than he usually did. (End flashback)_

_At the end of his tale, the entire table was chortling loudly, much to the annoyance of the other customers._

_"Guys," Jiayi said between giggles. "We should quiet down. Everyone's starting to look annoyed."_

_Slowly, the others ended their laughter and collectively sighed contentedly._

_"Well, maybe now he'll get the message and back off," Zhuang said with a smirk._

_Xiang grabbed his water glass and raised it into the air. "I say we go out to celebrate this event."_

_"Well, since we can't eat a second lunch," Qing began, "how about dinner at my house tonight?"_

_"Sounds like a plan," Feng said as everyone clinked their glasses together._

Chapter 6

Cheng yawned as he stretched out comfortably beneath a lofty tree in the school courtyard. It was late—well, late for a school day. Classes had already been in session for about half an hour, but since it was the day of the tenth grade's field trip to the Forbidden City, neither Cheng nor any of his fellow classmates was required to show up for classes.

Folding his hands behind his head as a makeshift pillow, Cheng closed his eyes, sighing in content as a pleasant breeze rolled over him.

Naturally, peace was nearly unattainable when one's best friend was an obnoxious girl named Jiayi.

All too soon, Cheng heard soft footsteps crunching in the grass beside him, and a foot prodded his side, followed by a familiar whine. "Cheng! Move over!"

Cracking open one eye, Cheng looked up to see Jiayi standing over him. The first thing he noticed was her legs, slim and smooth and bared nearly up to mid-thigh. His eye followed the toned line of her long legs up to her face, where she was looking at him expectantly. Absentmindedly, he mused over how nice her legs looked before mentally slapping himself—after all, he wasn't supposed to be having weird thoughts like that over his _best friend_ right?

"Did you hear me?" Jiayi whined again, planting her hands on her hips as she glared down at Cheng. She nudged him with her foot again. "Move over."

Cheng yawned, feigning disinterest. "You shouldn't stand like that when wearing a skirt, Jiayi."

Immediately, red flushed Jiayi's complexion and her foot reflexively found her way to Cheng's side again—only this time much, much harder. "_Excuse me?_"

"I was just kidding!" Cheng wheezed, sitting up and moving over to allow Jiayi space to sit beside him. Holding his throbbing side, he glared up at her, noticing with faint amusement that she was gripping the edge of her skirt subconsciously now. "I didn't even see anything; calm down."

She kicked him again for good measure. Damn, he was definitely going to get a bruise.

"Jerk," she growled, sitting carefully beside him. "I hate Uniform Day."

"Bet you wish you were a guy now, eh?" Cheng snickered.

"Almost," Jiayi groaned, tugging slightly at the hem of her skirt. "Skirts are the worst. You can't run, jump, climb, or do anything without having to worry about it flying up and flashing everyone! How do girls stand these?"

"Uh oh, is someone stressing out about Uniform Day again?" a voice teased from behind their tree, accompanied by a laugh.

"Hey guys," Jiayi mumbled unenthusiastically as Liang and Qing stepped around.

Liang patted her head sympathetically. "Cheer up; we get to skip a whole day of classes just to go to the Forbidden City."

Almost instantly, Jiayi's grim scowl brightened up into her usual grin.

"I am so excited for this trip!" she gushed, throwing her hands up in excitement. "This is going to be my first visit to the Forbidden City!"

"Seriously?" Qing asked, climbing up into the tree they were gathered around. "You live in Beijing. How have you _not_ visited the Forbidden City before?"

"I don't even know!" Jiayi whined tragically, falling back dramatically against Cheng's shoulder.

Cheng yawned again as the pointless banter around him carried on without him; closing his eyes again, he let his head rest on top of Jiayi's, feeling strangely at peace.

"Look at Cheng," he heard Qing laugh.

Liang poked his cheek. "Hey, lover boy, Jiayi's head comfy?"

Cheng's eyes snapped open and he bolted away from Jiayi, leaping to his feet, snarling viciously, "_What?_"

"Ow!" Jiayi cried out, having fallen flat on her back when Cheng suddenly pulled away. Sitting up, she rubbed the back of her head, rolling her eyes. "Gee, thanks Cheng."

Qing and Liang started snickering.

Slinging an arm around Cheng's tense shoulders, Liang shook his head morosely. "This isn't funny guys; it's sad and worrying. Think about it: Cheng can't even handle these kinds of jokes with his best friend." A look of horror claimed his face. "How will he ever get a girlfriend, knowing we'd only tease him even more?"

The laughter grew louder.

"You guys are the worst," Cheng snapped, but his lips twitched with the urge to smile.

"You love us anyways though," Qing and Jiayi exclaimed in unison.

Just then, a shrill whistle split the air, drawing all the tenth graders' attention to the entrance of the school.

Miss Li whistled once more before removing her fingers from her mouth. "Alright everybody, line up in front of your homeroom teacher. You need to make sure they mark you as 'Here' on their rosters before you board the buses."

"Yay, field trip!" Jiayi cheered, jumping to her feet.

* * *

Not five minutes later, Jiayi sulked in her seat, arms crossed and lips pouty. "This is so boring! They already checked us in when we boarded the bus; why are they calling our names?"

"Will you shut up already?" Cheng groaned, lucky—or unfortunate, depending on how you looked at it—enough to be the one sitting next to her.

"When are we going to leave though?" Jiayi whined, uncrossing her arms to throw them up in the air exasperatedly.

Suddenly, Liang's head appeared over the top of the seat in front of them. "Calm down. If you keep whining, you're not going to hear them call your name, and then they'll think you're not here, and then we'll have to wait even _longer_ for them to realize you really _are_ here."

That shut her up. Jiayi crossed her arms again and settled back into her brooding. Soon enough, her name was called.

"Here!" she shouted, jerking her arm up so suddenly that she nearly elbowed Cheng in the face.

"Will you calm down?" Cheng groaned, massaging his temples.

Jiayi slung an arm around his shoulders, grinning madly. "Cheng, do you know me at all?"

Before he could reply, Mrs. Po boarded their bus. After exchanging a few words with the homeroom teacher, the homeroom teacher got off the bus, leaving Mrs. Po behind. She cleared her throat, clapping for attention. "Alright everyone, Mr. Wang will not be making this trip; in his place, I will be your escort for today's field trip. We will be leaving for the Forbidden City now. When we get there, I expect you all to stick together and be on your best behavior."

"What does she think we are," Qing mumbled, rolling his eyes. "Primary school kids?"

"You're short enough to pass off as one," Jiayi cheerfully interjected.

"I mean," Qing continued on as if he hadn't heard Jiayi. "We're all almost sixteen now. You'd think they'd realize we aren't likely to go about taking candy from strangers anymore."

"Well, _we_ aren't," Cheng said loudly, shooting Jiayi a sly smirk. "_Some_ people on the other hand—"

She held up a fist, managing to make even her cheerful grin look threatening. "Finish that and die, Cheng."

"Besides," Liang said, leaning across the aisle to swat Qing's arm playfully. "Jiayi _is_ only the second shortest of our gang. Right, Qing?"

"It's one inch!" Qing roared. Jiayi leaned over Cheng's lap, pulling at the skin beneath her eyes and sticking her tongue out at Qing. Predictably, that led to a competition between the two over who could make the funnier or uglier face. Liang laughed; however, just as Cheng began to chuckle as well, he glanced up by chance—just in time to make eye contact with Meiying, who had been staring at their little gang of goofballs.

Impulsively, Cheng's knee jerked up, slamming directly into Jiayi's ribcage and knocking the wind out of her. Tearing his eyes from Meiying, he looked at Jiayi, who had sat up, coughing. "Oops, sorry."

Jiayi glared at him as her coughs subsided.

"You made me lose! Why do you always do this to me?" she cried tragically.

Cheng forced out a chuckle, feeling uncomfortable with the action when he could still feel Meiying's gaze boring into his head. Finally, after the conversation moved on again, Cheng felt Meiying's stare shift away, and with it went the uncomfortably tight self-conscious feeling that had been squeezing Cheng to the core. He sighed in relief and turned back to his friends' conversation.

* * *

"Welcome to the Forbidden City!" the tour guide exclaimed, waving a little flag as she led the group toward the entrance. Jiayi's eyes lit up when she saw the gold knobs fixed upon the massive red gates.

"I heard that if you rub them, you'll get good luck!" she exclaimed, rushing forward to run her slender hands over the golden knobs. The other boys laughed and followed suit, but Cheng hung back until Liang caught him hesitating.

"Cheng?" he said. "Aren't you going to rub one?"

Cheng rolled his eyes. "I don't believe in luck."

"_What_!" Jiayi cried in disbelief. She grabbed one of his hands and forcefully jammed it against a knob. "You have to! Even if it's only a myth, better safe than sorry, right?"

"Ow, that hurt, you cretin!" Cheng howled, jerking his hand away from his maniacal friend while his friends laughed heartily at them. Jiayi stuck her tongue out at him childishly, but he just stubbornly looked away, refusing to lower himself to her level. However, as the gang followed the class to a statue just within the gates, he stuck his tongue out at Jiayi's back, pleased that he got the last laugh.

Liang, however, caught his actions. Snickering as he leaned against the railings, he said, "Oh, real mature, Cheng."

"What?" Jiayi demanded. "What did he do?"

"Nothing!" Cheng spat, leaning against the railings as well.

Qing nudged Cheng's shoulder, whispering, "What'd you do?"

"Nothing!" Cheng said again, groaning. Qing pouted and turned to bug Liang instead; Cheng, on the other hand, noticed Jiayi staring at something with a pensive look on her face.

Following her gaze, Cheng spotted Meiying standing before the massive red gates with Dre, guiding his hand to a golden knob. She said something to the American, but they were too far away for Cheng to hear. However, he surmised that it had something to do with the whole 'rub a knob to get good luck' legend seeing as how Dre turned and started rubbing every single knob he could get his little hands on. Cheng rolled his eyes exasperatedly, but Meiying giggled at the American's antics.

Cheng's jealousy boiled, and his fists clenched over the railing tightly, but before he could march over towards the two, he felt someone touch his shoulder. He turned his head to see Jiayi frowning at him, her fingertips just barely touching his shoulder. She shook her head slightly; Cheng nodded back and took a deep breath, trying to breathe out all of his negative energies the way Jiayi always advocated. Just then, Meiying and Dre looked over.

Immediately, Cheng turned towards Qing and Liang, laughing at a joke he hadn't heard. Jiayi, on the other hand, just smiled and waved at Meiying and Dre, eyes curled up into unreadable crescents. Tentatively, Meiying waved back while Dre just looked apprehensive.

* * *

Jiayi watched in amusement as Cheng glared daggers at the back of Dre's head; he'd been staring like that ever since they boarded the bus for the ride home. Her lips quirked into an amused half-smile and she prodded Cheng's ribs with her elbow.

"Looks like your glare's losing its touch if he can't even feel it, eh?" she teased when Cheng turned his head to look at her. Now it was her turn to be glared at. She nodded her head, clicking her tongue woefully. "Yup, definitely lost its touch."

Cheng broke his glare off to roll his eyes. "You're so immature."

"Says the big, bad kung fu boy glaring at the little clueless, defenseless American," Jiayi retorted, snickering. "If you're that pissed off, go do something about it. You're no fun when you're brooding."

"I am _not_ brooding," Cheng snapped. Nevertheless, he leaned forward and tapped Liang on the shoulder. "Hey, switch with me."

Liang raised an eyebrow, but he didn't question his friend's motives and fluidly swapped seats with him. "What's Cheng up to?"

Jiayi shrugged. "Who knows?"

Meanwhile, Cheng turned to the girl Liang had been sitting next to—a girl named Chunhua, who stared at him questioningly. "Hi, Chunhua." Without giving her time to respond, he turned away again and leaned slightly into the bus aisle to see Dre. Just as he was about to lift his hand to prod the American's shoulder, Mrs. Po looked back. In the split second before she looked at Cheng and Dre's area, Cheng pulled back, conversing with Qing as if they'd been chatting for a while. To his credit, Qing replied with ease, surprise not showing on his face but in his eyes. Cheng didn't need to explain though; Qing had noticed Mrs. Po from his peripheral vision.

"Close much, Cheng? Be careful next time," he said with a smile kept up only for appearances in case Mrs. Po was looking.

"Yeah, I know," Cheng responded with a similar faux smile.

"What were you even going to do?"

"Oh, you know. Some more threats, angry glares, maybe shake my fist a couple of times."

"Only you could pull off those actions without looking like an idiot."

"Thanks." Cheng glanced over at Mrs. Po to check if she was still looking; when he noticed she'd turned away, he switched with Liang again, settling back next to Jiayi.

She grinned at him like a smug cat. "Plan failed?"

"You seem happy about that," Cheng grumbled, crossing his arms.

Jiayi laughed, blowing a kiss at him. "Oh, Cheng, you have no idea of the happiness your failures bring me."

Suddenly, Qing leaned into the aisle. "Guys, Feng just texted me. He and Zhuang are going to walk around the city after school; do you guys want to go too?"

"Why's Feng texting during class?" Liang asked in amusement.

Jiayi snickered darkly. "Hey, this is potential blackmail. Next time we need him to do stuff for us, we could just threaten to tell his mom that he's texting in class."

"Now there's an idea," Cheng laughed.

"Guys," Qing cut in, "park? Anyone else going?"

"I'll go," the other three exclaimed simultaneously.

Soon, the bus arrived back at the school just as classes ended. The blob of students exiting the bus quickly blended into the crowd of students flooding out of the school gates.

"Hey guys!" Qing exclaimed, throwing an arm around Feng's shoulder when he spotted his older friends. Behind them, Liang threw his arm over Zhuang's.

"Have fun, guys!" Xiang said with a grin.

"How come you're not coming?" Jiayi asked, jabbing his chest with her finger.

"New episode coming out today," Xiang replied, referring to the anime he'd been watching recently. "I need to watch it as soon as possible or I'm going to die!"

Cheng rolled his eyes. "Have fun with that, buddy."

"I will," Xiang retorted, sticking out his tongue before he started walking home.

"Well, let's go!" Zhuang exclaimed, pointing off in the opposite direction as if he were declaring the start of a new adventure.

As the little group started making their way down the street, Feng glanced at his underclassman friends. "How was the trip to the Forbidden City?"

"Awesome!" Jiayi crowed before the other three tenth-graders could answer. Her eyes glittered brightly as she animatedly gestured with her hands. "The architecture, the history, the culture—it was all amazing!"

Zhuang rolled his eyes. "I've never seen someone so genuinely excited about the Forbidden City before. What's wrong with you?"

"I'm just too insanely awesome for you mundane idiots to understand," Jiayi responded cheerfully with a tone of superiority in her voice.

Cheng snorted, muttering, "Try just 'too insane' for us to understand."

"Don't worry, though; you guys are my best friends," Jiayi continued, ignoring Cheng. "Eventually, my awesomeness will rub off on you a little."

Suddenly, Qing noticed Cheng glancing behind himself every so often, each time frowning a little more. "Cheng, what's up?"

At his question, everyone turned to Cheng curiously.

"Do you guys feel like we're being followed?" he asked. Everyone fell quiet and extended their senses.

"Now that you mention it," Feng murmured.

Jiayi and Liang finished for him. "Yeah."

"It's okay, guys," Zhuang said confidently. "If worst comes to worst, we can always just beat the crap out of whoever it is."

"Hey, look," Qing suddenly shouted. "Bikes!"

Jiayi and Zhuang snickered and followed Qing as he headed for the rack of old, dusty bikes.

Grabbing the handlebars of one bike, Jiayi lifted it so that it balanced on only one wheel. "Hey, do you guys know anyone who can do those cool tricks? Like, going up on one wheel like this and just doing fancy stuff?" She twirled the handlebars in example.

Cheng snorted, grabbing another and lifting it up in the same way. "I don't think anyone can balance like this and twist the handlebars like that, you idiot."

Jiayi stuck her tongue out at him. "Jerk."

"Dork."

"Poop head!"

"You're such a kid!" Cheng exclaimed.

Suddenly, an old man approached them, waving his hands dismissively as if to shoo them away like bothersome flies. "Get lost, brats. Beat it. Scram."

"Whatever," the gang chorused, laughing as they walked away.

"Look, there's some steps," Feng said, pointing towards some concrete steps. "We can sit there for a while."

"First ones there get the best seats!" Jiay and Qing yelled, running ahead. The two youngest members of the group quickly claimed the top two seats, lifting their legs to prevent anyone else from sitting on the same step. Liang and Feng rolled their eyes and shared the step beneath them, leaving Zhuang and Cheng to stand.

"Hey, have you guys mastered that new routine yet for kung fu?" Zhuang asked, leaning against the wall. "I keep losing my balance at that one point when we need to jump and spin into a kick."

"Seriously?" Cheng scoffed playfully. "What an amateur."

Recognizing the subtle teasing tone in his friend's voice, Zhuang merely laughed and nodded his head at Cheng. "Well then, Mister Show-Off, let's see the routine."

"Routine, routine, routine," Jiayi and Qing began chanting, only to break into a cheer when Cheng fell into the first stance. He was having a great time showing off his skills to his friends and the few pedestrians who passed by, when suddenly some foul grey liquid splashed down from the sky all over him. From the disgusted and alarmed yelps behind him, he knew it had splashed all over his friends as well.

"What the fuck is this?" Feng screeched, gagging at the smell.

"_Who_ the fuck did this?" Zhuang fumed, equally disgusted.

Jiayi—normally adamant on clean language—didn't even bothering admonishing her friends. She threw her arm out, finger pointed accusingly at something down the street. Eyes narrowed murderously, she snarled, "Parker!"

Immediately, everyone sprinted after him, cursing the head start the American had.

With fury lacing the adrenaline in his veins, Cheng panted as he raced after Dre. The American had the most amazing luck he had ever seen. Jiayi, as the fastest of the group, had easily covered the distance between them and Dre, but every time she got close to grabbing the back of Dre's shirt, the American squeezed by someone or dodged a car—always just in time so that Jiayi was forced to stop and go around.

In the back of Cheng's mind, he wondered if he should have rubbed those Forbidden City knobs more.

"Stop!"

"Get back here!"

"Hurry, guys, he's getting away!"

They were all shouting at the top of their lungs, ignoring the looks they got from the other pedestrians. By then, they had left the wide streets and were running through narrow alleys. Suddenly, he saw Dre leap onto a cardboard box, springing up to a plastic cart and then up onto the roof of a small building.

Jiayi, Qing, and Liang made it up without a problem, but the rest of them—all considerably more heavily built—had to kick off the wall to get onto the plastic cart out of fear that their heavier weight would collapse the cardboard box.

After they'd all jumped off the roof, Dre's luck continued to help him evade Jiayi's reaching fingers. Even from where he was, Cheng could feel Jiayi's frustration level rising steadily, and she was clearly struggling to push her speed even faster. He saw her reach out for Dre again, her fingers just barely brushing against the collar of the American's shirt. However, Dre must've realized their proximity and impulsively knocked over several green and red baskets stacked up into a pillar that towered over their heads.

The pillars tipped over, empty glass bottles spilling from the baskets' contents.

"Jiayi!" Cheng yelled as the baskets and glass bottles tumbled down onto his best friend, who threw her arms up to protect her face and head. She seemed unharmed, but was buried under all the plastic crates. Cheng looked up, locking eyes with Dre furiously. First, he stole Meiying; now he was putting his friends into harm's way too?

Dre turned and dashed away.

"Go after him! Jiayi and I will catch up!" Cheng ordered the others. They nodded and quickly bounded over the glass, sending worried looks over their shoulders as they chased after Dre while Cheng went to help Jiayi out of her predicament.

"This is starting to get ridiculous," Jiayi growled as she accepted Cheng's hand. He pulled her up, realizing in alarm that his earlier assumption that Jiayi was unharmed was wrong; little bits of glass were lodged in the side of her arm.

"Wait, your arm," Cheng said, grabbing Jiayi's wrist when she moved towards where Dre had fled from. At her impatient look, he tightened his grip and snapped firmly and viciously, "I'm not letting you run around with glass in your arm. So shut up and hold still!"

Surprised with his aggressive outburst, Jiayi nodded and allowed Cheng to pull her arm closer, wincing as he plucked out the little glass shards. Blood pooled in the cuts, but none of them were incredibly deep.

Holding her arm gently, Cheng sighed and shook his head. "There's nothing we can do to stop the bleeding right now."

"I know," Jiayi responded, pulling out of his grasp. Instead, she took his hand, squeezing it with wordless gratitude before tugging on it. "But right now we can get back at the brat who's responsible."

Cheng nodded, and the two took off again. They caught up fairly quickly to find Dre slamming a gate shut and all their friends clapping at the door, hollering for them to be let in. Liang turned as they approached and gasped in shock at Jiayi's arm.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" he exclaimed, grabbing her arm. The others gasped too, but Jiayi nodded impatiently.

"I'm fine, don't worry," she said, flashing a quick reassuring smile before approaching the locked door. She glanced between the crack between the gates, noticing a metal wire wrapped around the gate handles. Turning, she gave Cheng and Feng a push. "You two, jump over the wall. Cheng, you keep chasing Dre. Feng, you open the gates for us."

When Feng opened his mouth to protest, Qing cut in. "Come on! Parker's going to get away and you know you and Cheng are the best at leaping walls!"

Feng closed his mouth and sighed, nodding. Then he and Cheng took a few steps back, waiting for their friends to get into vaulting positions. Cheng went first. Dashing towards his friends, he stepped onto their linked hands, allowing them to vault him upwards over the wall. He landed steadily on the balls of his feet, noticing immediately that Dre was still lingering in the area, eying the door with hope. The hope vanished.

A solid thud behind him told Cheng that Feng had successfully landed as well. Dre, face paled at their feats, turned and sprinted away. Snarling, Cheng ripped after him, hearing Feng open the gate behind him. With eager shouts, everyone poured through the gates and raced after him.

Dre burst into an apartment courtyard, racing towards the building Cheng assumed he lived in.

"Can't let him get away," Cheng growled under his breath, kicking in an extra burst of speed. He burst through the green gates with Jiayi beside him, having caught up, and Liang slightly behind them. What they saw brought a sadistic smile to all of their faces; Dre was at a door, tugging desperately at the locked doorknob. When he saw them, he tried bolting for the other exit across the courtyard in a feeble attempt to escape.

Easily, Jiayi caught up, grabbing the collar of his t-shirt and swinging him to the ground. He sprang back up and tried to run past the others, only to be grabbed by Zhuang and Qing, who gripped him tightly and forced him to face Cheng. Without needing to be told, Feng went and locked the gate while Dre stared at Cheng, obviously intimidated and very frightened.

"**You're fast,**" Cheng sneered, taking a step closer. He glared into the other boy's terrified eyes, unable to scrape together any amount of pity. Everything about Dre just pissed him off. "**But not fast enough!**"

Faster than Dre could even blink, Cheng buried his fist into Dre's gut, smiling sadistically at the resulting cry of pain. Dre, face scrunching his face up, doubled over, but Zhuang and Qing tugged him back upright just in time for Cheng to throw another punch. This time, Dre fell back, falling to the concrete ground as Zhuang and Qing released their grips. He didn't get back up; curled up on his side, Dre just lied there, bottom lip quivering pathetically as he tried to hold in his tears without much success.

Still panting slightly from the earlier run, Cheng stepped forward to take another swing, when Qing suddenly grabbed his shoulder.

"Cheng, I think that's enough," he said grimly, eying the small American with an almost pitying look. Cheng turned to him with an incredulous look and scoffed. Leave it to Qing, the soft, sensitive baby of the group, to scrape together pity for Dre.

"Have you forgotten what we learned in kung fu?" Cheng demanded. He'd admired Meiying from afar for years, never gathering enough courage to talk to her without instinctively retreating into his shell and spatting callous remarks. Then Dre comes along and sweeps her off her feet. To add insult to injury, he went and threw foul water all over them, ignoring their warnings, and even injures Jiayi. They were lucky she'd only gotten glass in her arm; the situation could have ended so much worse. "No weakness, no pain, no mercy!"

"Seriously, Cheng, enough is enough!" Qing snapped, grabbing his arm.

"Get out of my way!" Cheng snapped back, twisting his friend's arm just enough to get him to release his arm. Then he shoved him away. Qing looked surprised and slightly hurt at his rough actions, but he backed away. Cheng pushed his rising guilt to the back of his mind, mentally noting to himself to apologize to him later.

Facing Dre again, Cheng danced forward and let out another punch, packed with all his frustrations and anger.

His punch never made it to its intended target. There was a hand—old, judging by the wrinkles—holding onto his wrist.

Slightly intimidated by the fact that someone had caught his punch when it was so fast, so packed full of power, Cheng looked up into the eyes of an old man. He had an aging face and wore a ratty set of blue pants and a matching, equally worn-out jacket. Cheng's eyes widened. It was a maintenance man.

What had this world come to?

* * *

**MHJ:** Yeah, instead of having like a 10,000 word chapter like in Missing a Piece, I've decided to split The Maintenance Man into 3 parts: The Chase, The Fight, and The Aftermath. Next chapter should be up in about a week or so! :)

Btw, there is a lot of open chapters between the scenes in the movie once Dre starts training. If anyone has any particular scenes that they're fantasizing about, you can let me know in the reviews! If it fits with the flow of the story that I'm aiming for, I'll write your idea in! :) Thanks guys!


	7. The Maintenance Man II: The Fight

**MHJ:** Guess who is on time? :D Yeah, that's right, I am! ^_^ Today is the first official day of summer vacation (finally -_-) and I pretty much spent it in front of the computer, typing up more chapter's of Always There. As of right now, I finished writing chapter 9, but I'm only releasing one chapter per week. MWAHAHAHAHAHAAH! Now, onto a different note, someone brought up something in a review that I thought I'd address here in case anyone else is confused.

In my mind, Qing is the short and cute one (the one who wore the hat in the park scene). Apparently he's actually supposed to be Zhuang, but I can't fix it now since we're all used to him being Qing. Also, Qing is supposed to be the one who tries to stop Cheng from hurting Dre even more, but I didn't realize that. Since Liang seemed remorseful for what he did in the tournament, I just made him the sympathetic one who would pity Dre. I went back just now and fixed that so Qing was really the one who tried to stop Cheng. Hopefully I cleared up the confusion. If this just made you even more confused, kindly forget everything I just said. :)

* * *

_Previously..._

_"Have you forgotten what we learned in kung fu?" Cheng demanded. He'd admired Meiying from afar for years, never gathering enough courage to talk to her without instinctively retreating into his shell and spatting callous remarks. Then Dre comes along and sweeps her off her feet. To add insult to injury, he went and threw foul water all over them, ignoring their warnings, and even injures Jiayi. They were lucky she'd only gotten glass in her arm; the situation could have ended so much worse. "No weakness, no pain, no mercy!"_

_"Seriously, Cheng, enough is enough!" Qing snapped, grabbing his arm._

_"Get out of my way!" Cheng snapped back, twisting his friend's arm just enough to get him to release his arm. Then he shoved him away. Qing looked surprised and slightly hurt at his rough actions, but he backed away. Cheng pushed his rising guilt to the back of his mind, mentally noting to himself to apologize to him later._

_Facing Dre again, Cheng danced forward and let out another punch, packed with all his frustrations and anger._

_His punch never made it to its intended target. There was a hand—old, judging by the wrinkles—holding onto his wrist._

_Slightly intimidated by the fact that someone had caught his punch when it was so fast, so packed full of power, Cheng looked up into the eyes of an old man. He had an aging face and wore a ratty set of blue pants and a matching, equally worn-out jacket. Cheng's eyes widened. It was a maintenance man._

_What had this world come to?_

Chapter 7

"Go home," the old man—Mr. Han, according to his weathered nametag—said gruffly. All of a sudden, he curled Cheng's wrist inward, causing pain to shoot through his wrist and up his forearm. Cheng yelped in surprise and pain, but just as suddenly as he had twisted Cheng's wrist, Mr. Han grabbed the boy's elbow, folded his arm into his chest, and shoved Cheng back several feet.

Jiayi and Feng reached out to brace Cheng before he tripped over his own feet.

The maintenance man paid no further heed to them as he bent down to check if Dre was alright.

"Who is this guy?" Jiayi whispered, looking unsure for once in her life.

Cheng just stared at the old man incredulously, shaking his wrist out a little.

Sensing Feng and Zhuang step forward furiously, Cheng quickly threw his arms out to stop them from advancing further. He turned his head slightly, giving them a nod and assuring them wordlessly that he could handle it. Exchanging a look, Feng and Zhuang reluctantly stepped back.

"You don't have to do this alone," Jiayi whispered, grabbing Cheng's elbow like a little child as she eyed Mr. Han cautiously.

Cheng pulled his arm away, turning back to Mr. Han. Without answering, he glided forward silently and snapped his foot out, aiming for the side of the maintenance man's temple.

The old man caught the kick in one hand without even looking. For a quick second, Cheng shot his friends a stunned look. Feng, Zhuang, and Liang were staring back, equally speechless, while Qing and Jiayi were exchanging nervous looks.

Mr. Han's grip on Cheng's ankle tightened and suddenly—too suddenly for Cheng to even think of reacting—he stood up, bringing the boy's leg up into a near split. Having yet to achieve his splits yet, pain shot through Cheng's legs, burning as his hamstrings threatened to tear.

The only ones to have gained their splits already, Jiayi and Liang rushed forward to help, but Mr. Han's eyes already showed that he didn't have the heart to do that. Without so much as a grunt, the old man threw Cheng back with Jiayi and Liang barely managing to catch him.

As the oldest, Feng felt protectiveness and responsibility for his friends rush through him. Immediately, he surged forward. The maintenance man blocked his roundhouse kick with ease, ducking under a right hook and planting his hands solidly on Feng's chest, pushing him back several feet.

Seeing their friend shoved away so effortlessly, Jiayi and Liang charged up in mirrored stances; they each grabbed one of Mr. Han's wrists, pulling them down as they sent their free fists towards the old man's face. To everyone's surprise, the well-coordinated move failed.

Mr. Han ducked back, using the Liang and Jiayi's non-punching arms to steady himself as their fists soared over his face harmlessly. What had started as Jiayi and Liang keeping Mr. Han's hands down to prevent him from blocking their attack had turned into Mr. Han holding onto Liang and Jiayi's wrists to prevent_ them_ from pulling away. With one powerful jerk, the old man pulled the two together, causing them to collide with their foreheads making a sickening crack.

Everyone winced for them.

Liang and Jiayi were so disoriented from the collision that they nearly collapsed to the ground, but Mr. Han steadied them before suddenly shoving them back. Liang crashed to the ground, a hand pressed to his throbbing forehead while Jiayi stumbled dizzily right into Feng. Feng's physical stature, much larger than Jiayi's, managed to keep the two of them from tipping over.

Zhuang and Qing exchanged a glance, both looking rather nervous as they circled Mr. Han. Qing appeared too stunned to actually do anything yet so Zhuang took the initiative and threw out a high kick, which Mr. Han dodged; setting his jaw in determination, Zhuang then sent out a backhand, which was blocked effortlessly. Then, instead of pushing Zhuang away like he had with everyone else, Mr. Han brought the boy into a lock, tightening his hold on the boy's wrist while pushing his face away so that he couldn't move.

At that point, Qing snapped out of his nervous stupor; he sprang forward with two kicks—the first was dodged neatly while the second unintentionally hit Zhuang when Mr. Han used the boy as a human shield. Clutching his stomach, Zhuang staggered away, gasping for air, while Qing went in for a couple more punches. The maintenance man didn't bother blocking or dodging; he grabbed Qing's wrists and whirled them around so that Feng, running forward, accidentally kicked Qing in the chest.

Immediately afterwards, Mr. Han turned and flipped Qing over his back and into a dustbin, which toppled over with Qing still in it. Everyone flinched again.

Ignoring the throbbing pain in his leg, Cheng scrambled up and charged at Mr. Han, trying another kick, but it was easily blocked. Liang, shaking his head to clear his dizzy vision, ran forward to help, but Mr. Han just grabbed him and swerved around to send him flying into Cheng, sending them both crashing to the ground gracelessly.

From the other side, Feng surged forward again, aiming a high kick at Mr. Han's head, but the old man merely sidestepped and grabbed his ankle, using it to tug the boy forward to body-slam him to the ground.

Meanwhile, Qing finally crawled out of the dustbin, looking up and making eye contact with Jiayi, who had finally shaken the dizziness out of her vision; they nodded at each other and charged at Mr. Han with Qing's attack hiding Jiayi's follow-up one. The plan backfired.

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Mr. Han turned just in time to catch Qing's punch; without giving Jiayi the opportunity to carry out her follow-up attack, Mr. Han tightened his grip on Qing's fist while grabbing the front of the boy's pants to swing him around in a circle. Cheng jumped back, narrowly dodging Qing's swinging legs, but neither Feng nor Jiayi were as lucky.

Feng was stuck in his shoulder, falling backwards onto a chain between two posts. His momentum continued, pulling the two posts over as he fell. Jiayi, much shorter than Feng, suffered a worse hit. One of Qing's feet caught her full in the face. She staggered back, holding a hand to the side of her face, into a pile of old pipe pieces.

As soon as Mr. Han put him down, Qing swung his free fist again. Mr. Han dodged easily so that Qing's fist went all the way to wrap around his own small body, then—as if they were dancing—the old man spun Qing out so that his free hand flew out and slapped Jiayi—who had scrambled back over to try to help—across the face on the same cheek he'd kicked. She yelped, staggering uncontrollably back to the pipes.

Then Mr. Han twisted Qing's hands together, his other hand lifted and ready to punch, but hesitation lingered in his aged eyes. After all, Qing was the smallest and the most innocent-looking out of their entire group, looking more like a junior high student rather than a high school student. Used to being punished in kung fu, Qing screwed his eyes tightly shut, prepared for the blow that never came. Mr. Han proved to be too compassionate and soft to actually make the blow on such a childlike boy. Instead, he let Zhuang to it for him, easily redirecting Zhuang's punch to Qing's eye.

Zhuang quickly stepped back, pulling Qing away as well, as Jiayi, Liang, and Feng jumped leapt upon the maintenance man, hurling any attack they could get in. Straight-faced and silent, Mr. Han deflected each attack with simple yet efficient blows, knocking them back a step with each block. Finally, as Feng went in with both his arms aimed for the sides of Mr. Han's head, the maintenance man grabbed onto the sleeves of Feng's uniform jacket, jerking them far past Feng's hands.

Liang raced forward, throwing a kick—dodged—then a punch. The maintenance man reacted quickly, wrapping one of Feng's sleeves around Liang's wrist then around Feng's neck, tying the two boys together. As he did so, Jiayi rushed in to help with a downwards chop; when that was dodged, she threw her leg up in a high arc. Like what he had done with Liang, Mr. Han merely wrapped Feng's other sleeve around Jiayi's small ankle.

Slowly, Mr. Han moved backwards, forcing Feng and Liang to follow while Jiayi hopped unsteadily on one foot; suddenly, Cheng tried another charge. Like a puppeteer, Mr. Han simply tugged sharply on the sleeves, sending Jiayi's foot out to kick Cheng in the gut, throwing him back down on the cement.

Qing and Zhuang just stood at either side of Mr. Han, fists up uncertainly as they looked nervously at the tangled mess that consisted of Jiayi, Liang, and Feng, knowing that if they tried attacking, they'd just end up hitting one of their friends again.

At that moment, Jiayi remembered that she was still in her school uniform. Blushing crimson to the roots of her hair, she let out a high pitched squeak and grabbed her cobalt blue school skirt, awkwardly trying to hold it down between her bare legs since she'd foolishly sent out a high kick for Mr. Han to trap in Feng's jacket.

It took a moment for everyone—all boys—to realize what she was doing, but when they did, her friends immediately redirected their gazes, faces blazing in embarrassment for their friend. Evidently more of a gentleman than a perverted old geezer, Mr. Han immediately released the three, shoving the tangled trio back where they landed with another painful thud.

Face still slightly red, Qing stepped forward to try to defend his friends, but stopped when Mr. Han looked at him.

"Go home," the maintenance man repeated, a little more forcefully than the last. Then he turned, scooped up Dre, and hobbled away.

* * *

**MHJ:** Expect the next chapter in about a week! :) Please review and let me know what you think! Also, the offer from the last chapter still stands: if you have any particular scenes or ideas that you really want to see in this story, leave me a review! If I can, I'll try to incorporate your idea in! :)


	8. The Maintenance Man III: The Aftermath

**MHJ:** Okay guys, did you know that a week goes by reaalllyyyyy slooooowwwwllyyyy when you have nothing to do all day? I spend almost all my time either writing on my computer or reading fanfiction on my iPod, etc. Eventually, since so few of you guys review (:/) I decided to just upload another chapter. You guys are pretty lucky I was so bored! :P Here's the last chapter in the Maintenance Man Arc of Always There! :D **MAKE SURE TO READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END!**

* * *

_Previously..._

_Zhuang quickly stepped back, pulling Qing away as well, as Jiayi, Liang, and Feng jumped leapt upon the maintenance man, hurling any attack they could get in. Straight-faced and silent, Mr. Han deflected each attack with simple yet efficient blows, knocking them back a step with each block. Finally, as Feng went in with both his arms aimed for the sides of Mr. Han's head, the maintenance man grabbed onto the sleeves of Feng's uniform jacket, jerking them far past Feng's hands._

_Liang raced forward, throwing a kick—dodged—then a punch. The maintenance man reacted quickly, wrapping one of Feng's sleeves around Liang's wrist then around Feng's neck, tying the two boys together. As he did so, Jiayi rushed in to help with a downwards chop; when that was dodged, she threw her leg up in a high arc. Like what he had done with Liang, Mr. Han merely wrapped Feng's other sleeve around Jiayi's small ankle._

_Slowly, Mr. Han moved backwards, forcing Feng and Liang to follow while Jiayi hopped unsteadily on one foot; suddenly, Cheng tried another charge. Like a puppeteer, Mr. Han simply tugged sharply on the sleeves, sending Jiayi's foot out to kick Cheng in the gut, throwing him back down on the cement._

_Qing and Zhuang just stood at either side of Mr. Han, fists up uncertainly as they looked nervously at the tangled mess that consisted of Jiayi, Liang, and Feng, knowing that if they tried attacking, they'd just end up hitting one of their friends again._

_At that moment, Jiayi remembered that she was still in her school uniform. Blushing crimson to the roots of her hair, she let out a high pitched squeak and grabbed her cobalt blue school skirt, awkwardly trying to hold it down between her bare legs since she'd foolishly sent out a high kick for Mr. Han to trap in Feng's jacket._

_It took a moment for everyone—all boys—to realize what she was doing, but when they did, her friends immediately redirected their gazes, faces blazing in embarrassment for their friend. Evidently more of a gentleman than a perverted old geezer, Mr. Han immediately released the three, shoving the tangled trio back where they landed with another painful thud._

_Face still slightly red, Qing stepped forward to try to defend his friends, but stopped when Mr. Han looked at him._

_"Go home," the maintenance man repeated, a little more forcefully than the last. Then he turned, scooped up Dre, and hobbled away._

Chapter 8

"I can't believe we just got our asses handed to us by a maintenance man," Feng grumbled, trying not to move his battered body too much.

Liang groaned, pressing an ice pack against the dark bruise on his swollen forehead. "If the team finds out about this, we'll never live it down."

"Forget the team," Zhuang said miserably from his position lying face down on the floor, an ice pack resting on his beaten back. "If the school finds out, no one will take us seriously anymore."

Everyone sighed in unison. After the fight, they'd all limped, leaning heavily on each other, to Xiang's house since it was the closest. After quickly summarizing what had happened, Xiang and his grandmother immediately tended to their wounds in the living room with home remedies.

"Stop moving, Qing," Xiang's grandmother suddenly reprimanded as she tied off the tight bandages around the boy's forehead.

"Thank you," Qing murmured, resting his head gingerly against the back of the couch. With a soft sigh, he closed his eyes, one of which was swollen and black.

Xiang's grandmother smiled and patted his head before gathering the bloody pieces of gauze scattered on the table and standing up with a low grunt. Then she shuffled off towards the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, "I'll make you kids something warm to drink."

"Thank you!" they called back.

Suddenly, Xiang appeared in the doorway of the living room, holding another ice pack. "Hey Jiayi, catch!"

The abnormally silent Jiayi, who had been sitting with unusually good posture, looked up; her hands left her lap momentarily to catch the ice pack with ease. After a moment of deliberation—after all, she had a dark bruise on both her swollen forehead and her swollen cheek and jaw—she decided to treat her forehead first.

Cheng stared at her, suddenly aware of how strange and out of character she was acting. Ever since they'd arrived at Xiang's house, she'd sat on a couch like a lady, staring at her hands in her lap silently with a brooding expression and refusing to acknowledge anyone around her except for Xiang's grandmother.

He reached over and touched her bandaged arm with his non-sprained hand, pulling back immediately when she suddenly twitched as if she couldn't decide whether to flinch back or to bite his hand off. "Jiayi, you okay?"

Jiayi bit down on her lip nervously out of reflex, only to wince when her busted lip stung in protest. "I'm fine."

The curt, toneless voice she responded with made it clear that she was not fine. Cheng frowned.

"Come on," he urged. "We're best friends. You can tell me anything."

Jiayi shrank in on herself even more, hands clenching into fists in her lap.

It was then that Cheng and the others realized Jiayi wasn't just resting her hands on her lap like a proper lady—her hands were curled tightly around the bottom hem of her skirt, holding it firmly. Zhuang was the first to connect the dots.

However, he tackled the situation in the wrong way: with teasing humor.

"Oh, you're still embarrassed about flashing everyone earlier," he teased playfully, sitting up slowly. Immediately, everyone—boys and Jiayi alike—blushed beet red. Cheng winced, leaning away as he prepared himself for the inevitable roar no doubt about to erupt from Jiayi's throat.

To his surprise, the roar never came.

Dark grey eyes narrowing, Jiayi shot Zhuang a menacing glare, lips twisting down into an unhappy pout. She crossed her arms, leaning back into the couch miserably. "Shut up."

The uncharacteristic solemnity she portrayed caught everyone off guard.

Zhuang blinked. "Wow, you're really upset over this."

Qing rolled his eyes, frowning. "Of course she is!" Slowly, he got up and shuffled over to Jiayi's side, sitting beside her. Blinking up at her with doting eyes, he asked, "Are you going to be okay?"

Jiayi spared him a quick glance, eyes warming up at the sight of his sad face—sad that she was sad. She glanced away, shooting each of her friends a brief look and noting their warm, reassuring smiles. Finally, she sighed, allowing a small smile to perk up her face. "Yeah, I'll be fine. As long as we never mention this incident again."

"Don't worry," Feng said, laughing.

"None of us wants to remember this day," Liang said, shaking his head. "Maintenance man…how pathetic…"

Jiayi nodded slightly, bashfully, and shifted her ice pack from her forehead to her cheek. Though she barely reacted to the icy sting against her bruised flesh, Qing caught her slight wince and looked down in guilt.

Twisting his fingers together uncomfortably, he muttered, "Ah, sorry about your face, Jiayi."

Her eyes snapped towards him in surprise, quickly darkening when she saw his guilty expression.

"Don't be ridiculous," she barked, throwing an arm around Qing's shoulders. "I blame that maintenance man."

Qing shrugged, unconvinced, leaning into Jiayi's one-armed embrace before looking over at Zhuang. "And Zhuang, sorry about your chest."

Zhuang waved a hand at him dismissively. "Eh, don't expect a hug from me, squirt." Everyone cracked a smile; for once, Qing didn't even bother frowning at the affectionate nickname. "Besides, if we're all apologizing, then I should be sorry for kicking you too—and for giving you the black eye."

"I might as well jump on the bandwagon too," Cheng said as he adjusted his ice pack on his overly stretched hamstring. "Qing, sorry for, you know…shoving you away so…rudely."

Qing chuckled. "Don't worry about it. I know you well enough by now not to get too offended by things like that."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Cheng laughed.

"Ugh, enough with the mushy apologies already!" Feng groaned, rolling his eyes. "It's all that stupid maintenance man's fault, not any of ours so all of you just shut up already! Stop apologizing to each other!"

Xiang snickered, poking Feng's face. "Hey! Don't be mad because nobody loves you enough to apologize, Feng."

"That's not so true anymore," Cheng interjected, chuckling along with the others. "Feng's technically the only one here with a girlfriend."

"What do you mean technically?" Jiayi suddenly said, eyebrows raised in amusement. "Who else here has anything resembling a girlfriend?"

Liang suddenly howled with laughter. "Could it be that you mean you and J—oof"

Cheng straightened up from his position, having thrown his ice pack at Liang's chest. Scowling with a vein throbbing in his forehead, he snapped, "Gosh I don't even want to know what you were about to say!"

Liang grinned, about to respond and repeat nice and clearly exactly what he was going to say, when suddenly Xiang's grandmother appeared at the doorway.

"Come on, kids," she said cheerfully in her old voice. "I've made some soup."

"Yay!" Jiayi and Qing cheered, jumping up as gracefully as their sore bodies allowed. Soon, the gang was piled in the kitchen, squished together at the dinner table.

Suddenly, Xiang slapped a hand to his forehead, shooting his friends worried looks. "We still have kung fu after this! Will you guys be okay?"

Liang and Qing shrugged helplessly while Zhuang and Feng sipped their soup.

Jiayi and Cheng exchanged a glance.

"Nothing we can do about it," Jiayi said nonchalantly.

Cheng nodded. "Besides, what doesn't kill you just makes you stronger."

* * *

"Get into position!"

Master Li stood in his usual spot in the center of the ring composed of his students, looking around while everyone did their warm-ups. His eyes stopped roaming when he saw Cheng moving slowly, wincing with every push-up or crunch they did. Wordlessly, Master Li's eyes flickered around, locating each of Cheng's friends only to find that they were all—with the exception of Xiang—moving in the same careful fashion.

"Cheng, Liang, Jiayi, Feng, Zhuang, Qing," he called out. The six students jumped to their feet, standing at attention while everyone else moved onto stretches. "Why are you all beat up?"

Although the rest of the class carried on their stretches seamlessly, Cheng knew they were all listening. He exchanged glances with his friends, all of them trying to decide who would answer; finally, they all ended up looking at Cheng, who sighed and nodded his head subtly.

"We had a run in with a classmate. He threw some kind of foul liquid on us so we gave chase; after we caught him, we were doing what you always say—showing no mercy and all—but then this guy showed up. He was really good at kung fu—so good that he had us beating each other up, sir."

Master Li's eyes hardened yet his face remained calm. "So you all lost."

Holding back a flinch, Cheng gulped silently. "Yes, sir."

Master Li stared at him for a moment before glancing around and taking in more observantly all the injuries they'd tried to hide. Then he nodded curtly. "I see. Jiayi, Liang."

The two snapped to attention when he suddenly barked out their names.

"Those matching bruises on your foreheads are a good look for you two," Master Li said, smirking coldly. The two students just exchanged looks, unsure of how to respond. Master Li paid them no further mind; his hawk-like eyes scanned Cheng's friends, easily picking out the most injured. "Qing, Zhuang. To the center. You two will be sparring today."

Cheng blinked owlishly, then, once the words sunk into his head, he bit his tongue in an effort to keep his face impassive. From the corners of his eyes, he could see Jiayi clench her fists, Feng and Xiang exchange glances, Liang grit his teeth. Even the other students in the class looked uncomfortable, clearing reaching the same conclusion.

Honestly, Cheng supposed he should've expected it. Master Li was a cruel, brutal person who preached mercilessness and pain and, above all, _victory_ by any means necessary. There was no doubt in Cheng's mind that Master Li viewed them as failures needing to be punished for their loss.

Naturally, however, Qing and Zhuang stepped out to the center without argument. Facing each other squarely, they nodded their heads, wishing each other luck, and slammed their fists into their palms. Then they bowed low, almost to a ninety-degree angle, displaying for the entire class the deep respect they had for each other.

"Begin."

At first, neither Zhuang nor Qing made any attempt of attack; instead, the two boys merely circled each other slowly with their stances comfortably loose yet ready to spring into action. Zhuang made the first move. His fist flew out towards Qing's stomach, but when Qing blocked, he saw that it had only been a distraction for the second fist flying towards his black eye. Involuntarily, he flinched back, squeezing his eyes shut for a brief second. Pain flashed in Zhuang's eyes and his fist seemingly missed its target, brushing over Qing's head instead. They played it off as a mere accident, but the gang noticed the thankful look Qing sent Zhuang as they backed away.

They went back to circling each other, but not even five seconds later, Zhuang charged. He sent a kick—that was blocked—and a punch—that was caught. Wincing at the pressure put on his sore wrist—which had been nearly dislocated during the fight with Mr. Han—he quickly dropped and kicked out at Qing's feet, forcing him to release his grip in order to dodge.

A soft creak near the entrance drew Cheng's attention; briefly, he tore his gaze away from the spar. Mr. Han and Dre had just walked in, the door still swinging shut behind them. The maintenance man stood slightly hunched over in his blue uniform while Dre cowered behind him. Tightening his jaw, Cheng clenched his fists, but at a pained yelp, his head snapped back toward the fight.

Qing had recovered quickly and sent out three kicks. The first two were blocked, but the third caught Zhuang in the stomach, forcing him back a few steps. Ignoring the pain rippling through his stomach, Zhuang danced forward, fist snapping out and catching Qing in the face, then before the shorter boy could regain his balance, Zhuang quickly kicked the inside of his leg, sending him staggering away.

Qing quickly tried swinging a fist around to hit Zhuang's head, but the older boy swept his arm away, grabbing his shoulders and kneeing him in the chest, then the stomach, and then the groin area. Cheng winced, wondering when exactly Zhuang had become so merciless in kung fu. Then, guilt flashing in his eyes briefly, Zhuang spun into the cringing Qing, flipping him over his shoulder. Cartwheeling over him, he rolled a back-somersault, hurling Qing onto his back with a thud.

Qing got right back up, face bright red and breath coming in fast. Zhuang was fidgeting in spot, shaking his hands out and scowling at what he had to do to his friend.

Using Zhuang's brief lapse in attention to his advantage, Qing surged forward, grabbing Zhuang's hand and twisting it as he kicked at his legs; with a yelp, Zhuang flipped in the air, landing on the platform with a painful thud.

Immediately, Zhuang began trying to push himself back up as he tried to regain his breath, but Qing strode right in, grabbing the back of Zhuang's uniform. Sensing his defeat, Zhuang ceased fighting, simply lying there as he waited for the last strike.

Raising his tightly clenched fist, Qing narrowed his eyes as he prepared to deliver the final blow. However, the longer he looked at the back of Zhuang's head, the more pain pooled into his eyes.

Although the gang always goofed off with play fights, none of them could really hit each other with actual seriousness—not even Jiayi or Cheng. It was hard enough to spar each other in kung fu class, but for Qing—easily one of the most sensitive members of their gang—it was nearly unbearable hitting people he saw as his family—his brothers and sister.

After a moment of silence, Master Li's pleased look morphed into one of sour disappointment.

"What's the matter? Why isn't your fist moving?" he demanded in a quiet voice. Qing looked up, childish face full of futile hope that Master Li wouldn't give him the order he knew he'd have to fulfill. When Master Li saw the expression and the silent plead; his lip curled in disgust. "Finish him!"

Face tightening in pain, Qing glanced up once more to make sure he heard right. Without warning—probably to get things over with quickly—he lifted his arm and backhanded Zhuang's neck, driving his elbow into the back of his head. Their yells intermingled, one with emotional pain and the other with physical.

Immediately, Qing backed away, looking away with shame on his face. His eyes flickered over at Zhuang, who had slowly pushed himself up onto his knees and moved back to his spot. With a small rustle of clothes, Master Li stood up.

"Qing, come here," he ordered, pointing to the ground right in front of him. Hanging his head in shame and fear, Qing walked up to Master Li, glancing up nervously every few seconds. Suddenly, Master Li's hand flew up and slapped Qing hard across the face—so hard that small, slight Qing was sent staggering to the floor. The class barely concealed their collective wince.

Glancing back at the doorway, Cheng noticed Mr. Han's expression had turned from solemn to distraught at Master Li's command, then from distraught to horrified at the punishing slap. Dre's nervous face turned to terrified the moment he entered the room so his expression hadn't changed much. Cheng looked around and saw that Feng was the only other member of their gang who had noticed the two intruders; he glanced over at Cheng, giving him a questioning look to which Cheng shrugged back.

"Stand!" Master Li barked, glaring down at his two top students still on the ground. Everyone shot up while Qing, touching his flaming cheek gingerly for a moment, stumbled back to his spot. Although he knew that there was a good chance that Qing was tearing up, Cheng kept staring—glaring—at Mr. Han and Dre. It was their fault. All their fault.

"Just because our opponent is down, doesn't mean we can show them mercy," Master Li lectured as he walked around the circle. Cheng zoned out after that; he'd heard the entire speech before so there was really no point to listen. Instead, he opted for staring at the two intruders with a mixture of anger and curiosity.

'_What the heck are they doing here?_' Cheng though venomously. '_Haven't they done enough?_'

All of a sudden, he noticed it was quiet. Quickly, he looked up to see Master Li approaching him. His eyes flickered back to Mr. Han and Dre for a second before returning to Master Li, who had stopped in front of him.

"What are you looking at?"

Swallowing, Cheng half-heartedly flopped his hand towards the door, murmuring. "He's the one who attacked us."

Master Li's eyes widened fractionally and he turned to see who exactly had defeated his top students. In fact, everyone in the class turned to see the incredible kung fu master—and pretty much all their jaws fell open when they realized that Cheng and his gang, top students of The Fighting Dragon, had been defeated by an old maintenance man.

"We've come to make peace," Mr. Han said solemnly, taking a few steps forward with Dre in tow. Master Li raised an eyebrow.

"Let that little thing fend for itself," he replied. Mr. Han glanced at Dre before looking back at Master Li.

"One on one, no problem," he started patiently. "Six on one, a little unfair."

He and Master Li had what seemed like a silent staring battle before Master Li inclined his head slightly, lips tugged in a miniscule, devilish smile.

"Understood," he purred. Then, raising his voice, he barked out, "Prepare for battle."

Immediately, everyone dropped onto their butts; only Cheng remained standing. Smirking slightly in anticipation, he stepped forward, cracking his knuckles in an attempt to intimidate Dre even further. Now was his chance to repay the little worm for all the misfortune brought to him and his friends.

"**Whoa, Mr. Han, does he want us to fight?**" Dre asked in a worried tone that bordered on panic. Mr. Han looked at Dre, then at Cheng, then at his injured friends—his eyes seemed to soften slightly when he saw their bandages and medical tape—then back at Dre. He sighed.

"We're not here to fight," he said wearily, turning to leave. The two of them slowly made their way towards the door; everyone else looked back at Master Li anticipatingly. He was frowning in a displeased manner; scoffing, he hopped down from the platform and jogged forward to catch up to Mr. Han and Dre.

"You attacked my students, then came here today and disrespect my dojo," he said almost casually. Suddenly, he threw his arm out, hitting Mr. Han squarely in the chest and preventing him from taking another step. "And you think you can just leave that easily?"

"Master Li," Mr. Han started, lifting his hand slightly, but he cut himself off when Master Li's hand grabbed his fist. In turn, Mr. Han's free hand went and grabbed Dre's skinny wrist.

Master Li glared into Mr. Han's eyes. "Then how about you? Out of the two of you, one of you has to fight."

It was quite clear to the students that Mr. Han was just as skilled—maybe even more—as Master Li, but it was also painfully obvious that he was too much of a pacifist to fight them himself. His eyes flickered around the room, finally setting on the poster of one of the big kung fu tournament the Fighting Dragon always participated in.

"If you want to fight, then fight there," he said, nodding his head towards the poster. Master Li contemplated the old man's face for a moment to make sure he was being truthful—even though there was no deceit in his tone—before glancing at the poster. Suddenly, he laughed in a taunting way as he released the maintenance man's wrist.

"Alright. I'll take you up on that challenge," he sneered.

Mr. Han breathed in deeply, seemingly attempting to control his anger. "Then from here on out, please tell your students not to harass my student."

Master Li looked away before suddenly bellowing out, "Attention!"

He gave Mr. Han one last scalding look before turning to face his students. "From this day forward, no one is to harass this little thing until the tournament. Understood?"

"Understood!" the students chorused back. Feeling that the problem was solved, Mr. Han turned to leave once more and, therefore, Dre turned as well. Master Li looked back at them as they left.

"Oi!" he called out. "If that little thing doesn't show up for the tournament, get ready to fight me personally."

The old man paused for a moment before continuing on his way out the door. Dre, however, hesitated a little longer, staring at Master Li with a fearful expression. Feeling his gaze, Master Li looked down at him as if to say, '_What are you still doing here, brat?_'

As if he heard the thought, Dre quickly turned and followed Mr. Han out. Cheng sighed, feeling slightly put out that he didn't get to fight Dre right then and there, but then it hit him. Now he had the opportunity of beating Dre up in front of thousands of people! Even better!

Grinning, he turned, making eye contact with Jiayi, who had looked at him in the same moment.

Her eyes crinkled into pleased crescents and glittered with anticipation.

'_You ready?_' her dark orbs seemed to ask tauntingly.

Cheng narrowed his eyes. '_Always._'

* * *

**MHJ:** So since I got so bored waiting for the week to end so I could upload another chapter, I decided to try something different. I will upload the next chapter with no deadline. It could be tomorrow or next month—hell, it could even be two hours from now. **I will upload the next chapter the moment I get 10 concrete reviews that contain more substance than just "good chapter, now update"**. Okay? :) Sounds like a fair deal, right?**  
**

Okay then, I shall leave you guys to reviewing! ;) Remember: the faster I get those 10 reviews, the sooner you guys get the next chapter! Seeya~~!

P.S. If I get like 10 anonymous reviews in a row, I'm obviously gonna expect something's up -_- So please don't try to post multiple anonymous reviews okay?


	9. Worth It

**MHJ:** I knew you guys could review! =.= Just needed a little incentive, am I right? :) Thanks for the reviews guys! And as promised, here is the next chapter! But first, I would like to rant about something that I completely forgot to rant about in the last chapter:

About a week ago, I came across an interesting video on Youtube. Did you guys know that there is an alternate ending to the Karate Kid 2010? What is it, you ask? It is a scene in which Mr. Han and Master Li fight it out at the end of the tournament! Needless to say, Jackie Chan was freaking awesome and you know what else? Dre's mom punches Master Li. Yeah, she punches him.

So I just have one thing to say...

WHAT KIND OF MORON DOESN'T MAKE THIS THE ACTUAL ENDING? LIKE WTF =_= I literally _raged_ over that for a good few minutes. Sigh. Okay, ranting over, go ahead and check out the chapter! ^_^

* * *

_Previously..._

_"Oi!" he called out. "If that little thing doesn't show up for the tournament, get ready to fight me personally."_

_The old man paused for a moment before continuing on his way out the door. Dre, however, hesitated a little longer, staring at Master Li with a fearful expression. Feeling his gaze, Master Li looked down at him as if to say, 'What are you still doing here, brat?'_

_As if he heard the thought, Dre quickly turned and followed Mr. Han out. Cheng sighed, feeling slightly put out that he didn't get to fight Dre right then and there, but then it hit him. Now he had the opportunity of beating Dre up in front of thousands of people! Even better!_

_Grinning, he turned, making eye contact with Jiayi, who had looked at him in the same moment._

_Her eyes crinkled into pleased crescents and glittered with anticipation._

_'You ready?' her dark orbs seemed to ask tauntingly._

_Cheng narrowed his eyes. 'Always.'_

Chapter 9

"You're losing! You're losing! Shoot it! Shoot it quick!"

"Qing!" Cheng snapped through gritted teeth. "I get it. Please shut up or go bother Liang!"

Liang laughed, masterfully pulling at the plastic trigger. "Oh please, Cheng. I'm way too far ahead for you to catch up now."

"I wouldn't say that, Liang," Cheng responded with an evil grin. "You might just jinx yourself."

Suddenly, something gold glittered in the corner of the screen.

Qing nearly burst Cheng's eardrum with his ensuing screech. "CHENG, IT'S A BONUS, QUICK, GET IT, GET IT, GET IT!"

"SHUT UP!" Cheng roared back, wincing. Nevertheless, he took aim and fired. Seconds later, the game ended, announcing in bright, bold letters that Cheng had won the game.

Cheng and Qing turned simultaneously to the slack-jawed Liang, yelling in unison, "Hah! Loser!"

Regaining control of his face, Liang laughed along, hands held up in defeat. "Alright, alright, the next game is on me."

"Free tokens," Cheng and Qing hooted triumphantly, slapping each other a high-five. Liang rolled his eyes, linking his arms with Cheng and Qing and pulling them towards the token machine. Along the way, he released his friends' arms and pulled out his wallet.

Just as a shower of tokens tumbled out of the machine, Qing nudged Cheng and Liang. "Hey, guys, isn't that Jiayi over there?"

Cheng looked up while Liang scooped up the tokens.

Sure enough, at an air hockey table was Jiayi, completely absorbed in her game with Piao, a boy from their grade.

"It is," Cheng affirmed. "So this is where she's been all day. No wonder she wasn't answering her phone."

"Let's go see what she's been up to," Liang remarked.

Jiayi didn't even notice their approach, so engrossed was she in her game. Silently, the three boys stood by the side of the air hockey table, watching in an almost mesmerized fashion as the puck whizzed back and forth with alarming speed. The score was tied with only one goal left before the game ended; tension was high, buzzing in the air like electricity and visible in Jiayi's tensed muscles.

Suddenly, Qing sneezed, and Jiayi's eyes flickered off the table.

The winning point was scored.

"Shit!" Jiayi hissed, glaring at the flashing numbers on the scoreboard when the puck managed to slip through her defenses in her split second of inattention. Across the table, Piao pumped a fist into the air.

"Yes!" he howled, a smug smirk on his face. "Hand over the tickets, babe."

Scowling menacingly, Jiayi slapped her little bucket of tickets onto the table and slid it over. "Don't call me babe, you jerk. You won, now just get lost."

Piao grabbed the tickets, grinning smugly, not even bothering to reply before he vanished into the crowd. With his departure, Jiayi's shoulders slumped as she trudged aside to allow the table to be claimed by another pair of teenagers. Glaring at Cheng, Qing, and Liang, she scowled. "Thanks a lot, guys."

"Don't be such a sore loser, Jiayi," Cheng chastised amusedly, patting her shoulder.

Jiayi sighed sadly, a glum pout on her face. "I know, but now I have no chance of winning it!"

Liang cocked his head. "Winning what?"

"There's—" Jiayi paused, ducking her head sheepishly. "There's this giant Hello Kitty plushie at the prize corner, and I hear it's going permanently out of stock soon." Her face crumpled and she whined, "I really wanted it."

Qing, whose sneeze had been the distracting factor in Jiayi's loss, pouted sadly. "Sorry…"

Meanwhile, Liang and Cheng exchanged a glance that went unnoticed by their sulking friends. A disappointed Jiayi, lacking her radiant cheer was almost painful to see. Clearing his throat, Liang nudged Cheng, squinting his eyes at him meaningfully, before throwing an arm around Jiayi and Qing. "Come on, Jiayi, Qing and I will help you try to win more tickets."

"What's the use?" Jiayi mumbled. She led the way towards the other games nonetheless.

"It's up to you now," Liang muttered with a grin as he passed Cheng.

Cheng nodded and turned in the opposite direction, scanning the arcade for Piao. As he wove around the different games and machines, he sighed. Jiayi just had to go and make a stupid bet. Wasn't it usually him who made bets without thinking them through first? Suddenly, Cheng caught sight of the tall boy he'd been looking for.

"Piao!" he yelled, trying to get the other boy's attention.

Jerking up from his position huddled over one of the coin games, Piao looked over. "Cheng? What's up?"

Approaching him with a rather sullen look, Cheng pointed a finger at the bucket of Jiayi's tickets. "You. Me. Winner gets all of the loser's tickets."

Piao laughed. "Avenging your girlfriend?"

The sullen look flew off Cheng's face faster than Piao could blink.

"W-what?" Cheng sputtered, face turning red with rage. "She is not my girlfriend!"

Piao backed off at his outburst, hands held up defensively though his smile widened in amusement. "Sorry, I forgot, you're still waiting on Meiying."

"You're really asking for it, Piao," Cheng growled.

Piao laughed again, and the two made their way for an empty air hockey table. "Relax, Cheng; you know I'm just teasing."

Cheng's surly expression didn't budge, but he did roll his eyes.

The two inserted a couple of coins into their respective coin acceptors, and, with a variety of beeps, the lights flashed on, air rushed out from the many holes scattered over the table, and a puck fell out on Cheng's side. He grabbed it, and the game began.

Back and forth, the puck flew almost weightlessly over the table, gliding over the white surface and ricocheting off the sides.

"So Cheng, any progress with Meiying?" Piao asked cheekily.

Cheng glared at the puck as he followed it with his eyes. "Shut up, Piao."

"Aw come on. Is that any way to treat an old kung fu buddy?"

"I don't know how I could even stand you back then."

Piao laughed. "Yeah, me neither."

"At least we agree on that."

"Anyways, isn't that new kid pining for Meiying now, too?"

Cheng looked up, sparing a few seconds to send Piao a glare. "Who cares?"

"If you ask me, you should just forget about Meiying."

"I didn't ask you."

"Well, what's the point of chasing after a girl who doesn't care about your feelings?"

Cheng didn't respond.

"Fine, be that way."

The game continued on in near silence, save for the noises of the arcade in the background.

After a while, Piao started to talk again.

"You know what I realized lately?"

Cheng sighed; he knew the silence was too good to be true. "What."

"Jiayi's actually pretty hot."

Cheng's hand slipped, nearly missing the puck altogether. "What the hell, Piao!"

"What? Don't tell me you never thought that before!"

"I have never thought that before!"

"Okay, total lie, Cheng."

"Piao, can you please do me a favor and just shut up?"

"Not until you admit that you've had those thoughts. Come on, Cheng, you can't lie to me."

"I'm her best friend. I'm not supposed to have those kinds of thoughts."

"That's just an excuse."

Finally, to Cheng's immense relief, the puck shot through Piao's goal for the final time. Immediately, the machine lit up, announcing in blinking letters that Cheng had won.

"Finally," Cheng sighed in relief. "Hand over the tickets, Piao."

Smiling good-naturedly, Piao slid the tickets over. "Okay, you win. Maybe Jiayi will be so happy that she'll give you hug."

"Will you shut up already, you weirdo?" Cheng snapped in annoyance.

Piao rolled his eyes. "Right, still waiting on Meiying."

"Go die, Piao!"

With another chuckle, Piao waved a hand before turning and heading back towards the coin machines.

"God, what a freak," Cheng mumbled, turning away as well. Tickets in hand, he made his way towards the prize booth, muttering, "How did I ever tolerate him?"

"Hello, redeeming your tickets?" the woman at the prize booth asked as Cheng approached.

Cheng nodded, setting the tickets onto the counter. "Yeah, is this enough for that," he glanced around cautiously for people who might overhear him, "Hello Kitty plushie?"

The woman grinned.

"Got a girlfriend?" she asked teasingly as she weighed the tickets.

Instantly, Cheng's face reddened and he shook his head furiously. "No, no, no, it's for my best friend."

The woman chuckled. "Well, anyway, this isn't enough, sorry."

"Damn," Cheng sighed. After a moment of deliberation, he dug out his own tickets, hard-earned from a day of games with Liang and Qing, from his pocket. "Fine, add these. Now is it enough?"

The woman took the additional tickets and dropped them onto the pile. She smiled. "Your best friend is lucky. This is _just_ enough."

"Yeah, I know she is," Cheng muttered, rolling his eyes as the woman got the large doll down.

The woman giggled and handed Cheng the plushie. "Alright, you're all set."

"Thanks," Cheng muttered, fleeing the area, unnerved by the woman's knowing grin.

Embarrassedly carrying the large Hello Kitty doll under one arm, Cheng quickly sought out Jiayi. He found her at one of the shooting games with Liang and Qing, each of them blasting away at targets on the screen. As he walked over, he felt an exasperated look claim his face.

"I thought you guys were trying to win more tickets," he said when he reached them.

"We were, but then I decided that it was no use," Jiayi responded, starting to turn her head. "So we decided to just—_oh my gosh! Is that for me?_"

Awkwardly, Cheng rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment as he nodded and held the doll out. Jiayi squealed, dropping the plastic gun, which smacked loudly against the machine, and snatching up the doll.

"Cheng, you are the best!" she cried, pouncing onto him with a bone-crushing hug. Before Cheng even registered what she was doing, she pecked him on the cheek lightly, turning to Qing and Liang just in time to miss how Cheng's face instantly reddened to a tomato-like shade.

"Guys!" Jiayi yelled, thrusting her doll in front of the screen, much to Qing and Liang's chagrin. "Look what Cheng won me!"

"Awesome!" Qing yelled, trying to see around the doll. "Now can we all get back to the game?"

Meanwhile, Liang flashed Cheng a grin, looking even more amused at the shade Cheng's face had become. "Well done, Cheng!"

Scowling, Cheng smacked Liang upside the head. "Shut up." Then, absentmindedly lamenting over the large number of tickets he had worked so hard to earn only to give away to Jiayi, he looked back at her, whose face was still lit up dazzlingly with excitement. Just by looking at her, Cheng could feel her happiness infecting his own mind.

Allowing himself a small smile, Cheng decided that if it made Jiayi smile like that, anything was worth it. Grudgingly, he also admitted in his mind that Piao was right. Jiayi _was_ kind of pretty, especially when she smiled like that.

* * *

"Come on, Jiayi!"

"Yeah, you can do it!"

"Just one more lap!"

"Shut up, guys!" Jiayi gasped, nearly stumbling. Shooting a glare upwards at the laughing person on her back, she scowled. "Stop laughing, Feng, you're going to make me fall on my face!"

"Sorry," Feng chuckled, looking amused. "To be honest, you're doing a lot better than I expected."

"I agree," Liang said.

Zhuang nodded. "Who knew Jiayi had this much strength in that little twig she calls a body?"

Pausing in her lap around the room, Jiayi sent Zhuang a withering glare. "Who are you saying has a twig for a body?"

"Forget him," Cheng interjected. "Hurry and finish the dare so we can move on!"

With a suffering grunt, Jiayi quickly stumbled the last few steps before collapsing on the floor. Taken by surprise, Feng barely managed to catch himself from crushing his friend. Climbing over her body, he sat back in his spot between Liang and Zhuang, laughing. "Not bad, Jiayi."

"Your dare of carrying the heaviest person here on your back around the room five times is complete," Liang said, chuckling.

Scowling, Jiayi dragged herself up and back to her seat between Zhuang and Cheng. "You guys are the worst. Whose turn is it now?"

"I believe it is Zhuang's turn," Cheng said with a grin. At that, Jiayi perked up, grinning evilly.

At the sight of Jiayi's grin, Zhuang coughed nervously. "Uh, yeah, I think I'll take a truth."

If possible, Jiayi's grin widened. "You do know the rules for that, right?"

Feng chortled. "Anyone who takes a truth needs to take a punch to the face, remember, Zhuang?"

Zhuang rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'll take it. Anything's probably better than whatever Jiayi's going to make me do."

"Care to do the honors, Jiayi?" Cheng asked.

"My pleasure," Jiayi responded, cracking the knuckles of her right hand. Turning towards Zhuang, she cocked her fist back as Zhuang closed his eyes and braced himself for the punch.

WHAM.

"Damn, that was actually lighter than I expected," Zhuang said, brushing his fingers over his cheek.

Jiayi scowled, sticking her tongue out at him. "Shut up. I went easy on you."

"Okay, your truth," Liang interjected, picking up a sheet of paper of truths he'd printed out ahead of time. "Hmm, okay, if my house suddenly caught on fire and you can only save one person, would you save the person on your left or the person on your right?"

Zhuang glanced at Jiayi, on his right, then at Feng, on his left. "Feng, hands down."

"Oh, I see how it is," Jiayi exclaimed dramatically with a mock hurt look.

Liang laughed, turning to Cheng. "Alright, Cheng, your turn. Truth or dare?"

"I'm not about to let Jiayi punch me," Cheng said, rolling his eyes. "Dare."

"Alright, let's think of something good," Liang said absently as he tapped his chin. As the other three boys tried to come up with a suitable dare for their friend, Jiayi reached across the ring for the sheet of truths.

"Let me see the truths. Maybe we can twist one into a dar—ow!" Scowling, Jiayi let the paper flutter out of her hand as she brought her right hand up to her face. "Dammit, paper cut." Without further ado, she stuck the tip of her index finger into her mouth.

Suddenly struck by inspiration, Feng doubled over in laughter. "Oh, I got it! Cheng, either suck on Jiayi's paper cut for five seconds or go lick the toilet seat."

Jiayi's mouth dropped open. "W-w-what kind of a dare is that? Obviously he's going to—" she broke off, suddenly noticing the thoughtful expression Cheng was staring at her with.

"Are you really considering this?" she immediately squeaked. "Go lick the toilet seat!"

Cheng cringed. "You're kidding, right? Give me your finger."

"Huh?" Jiayi squeaked, seeming to have lost her ability to speak in normal pitches. "W-what if I have STD's or something? I could transmit something deadly to you and then you'll die and regret it!"

"Will you just shut up and let me do my dare? I'm not going to lick Liang's toilet seat," Cheng said, rolling his eyes. Before she could pull away, he grabbed her wrist, guiding her hand to his mouth and sticking her index finger in his mouth. His tongue quickly found the cut and pressed against it motionlessly.

Liang, Feng, and Zhuang immediately cracked up at the subtle uncomfortable blush on Cheng's face as well as the blazing tomato red color Jiayi's cheeks had adopted.

Two seconds into the dare, Zhuang couldn't help but start teasing. "Hey, Jiayi, you're looking awfully red. You're not enjoying this, are—"

BAM.

"Just try to finish that, I dare you!" Jiayi snarled, her free hand still held up threateningly.

"Uh, nevermind," Zhuang replied meekly, holding his throbbing head.

"Time's up, you can stop now," Liang said, still snickering.

Cheng pulled away, releasing Jiayi's wrist. She awkwardly wiped her finger dry on her sweatpants. Afterwards, they just sat there, staring awkwardly at anything but each other. In response to their awkwardness, the other three burst out laughing again.

"My goodness, would you kids settle down?" Liang's mother exclaimed in amused exasperation, appearing at the doorway.

Immediately, the three boys calmed down slightly as they all turned to Liang's mom.

"What's up, mom?" Liang asked, still half-chuckling.

"Meiying just arrived," his mother replied. "I want you all to play together nicely and quietly, okay? Oh, and dinner is almost ready. I want you all at the dinner table in about ten minutes."

"Yes, mom," Liang said, rolling his eyes at his mom's choice of words. As his mother left, he turned back to the others. "Sucks how Xiang and Qing couldn't make it today. Dinner parties are always the most fun with all of us together."

Feng nodded. "Yeah. Then again, they're lucky they won't have to deal with Meiying. Do you think she found out about the tournament yet?"

"How could she?" Jiayi replied. "I doubt Dre has her number."

"We just have to make sure none of us spill the beans," Cheng said with a tone of finality.

Just then, in a summery dress, Meiying appeared at the doorway, smiling shyly at the group of boys she wasn't particularly close to. The only one she was even remotely close to was Jiayi, who grinned and waved.

"Hi guys," Meiying said, making her way over and sitting on the floor between Cheng and Liang. "What are you guys doing?"

"Truth or dare," Jiayi answered enthusiastically. "Want to join in?"

Meiying shrugged. "Sure. Um, truth I guess?"

The boys exchanged glances.

"What do we do about the truth rule?" Feng asked.

"Good question," Liang said. "I guess we exempt Meiying from it."

At the sight of Meiying's confused face, Zhuang explained, "Whoever chooses Truth must accept a punch to the face. But for you, we can't exactly punch you, so I guess you're exempt."

"Okay," Meiying responded hesitantly.

Jiayi grinned. "Okay, Meiying, do you or have you ever had a crush on Cheng?"

Cheng coughed, sputtering, "What kind of a truth is that?"

"No, I haven't," Meiying answered, a blush appearing on her face. Cheng's face fell, which Meiying either ignored or remained blissfully ignorant of.

Jiayi's smile widened slyly. "Why're you blushing then?"

"Because of the question," Meiying squeaked embarrassedly.

"Whatever, fine," Jiayi said, rolling her eyes.

Zhuang, evidently also eager to seize the opportunity of teasing Cheng, suddenly spoke. "Okay, Cheng's turn!"

"What!" Cheng yelped in rage. "I practically just went!"

"Cheng's turn," Feng agreed happily, catching onto Jiayi and Zhuang's plan of teasing Cheng into oblivion.

"Alright, a dare for Cheng," Liang added cheerfully.

A wicked grin appeared on Zhuang's face. "Cheng, I dare you to say something dirty to the player on your right."

Immediately, Cheng and Meiying glanced at each other.

"I think I'd rather take the punch to the face," Cheng immediately deadpanned.

Jiayi smirked. "Really, Cheng? You want a truth?"

Cheng narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't."

"Wouldn't I?" Jiayi challenged, narrowing her own eyes.

Sighing, a faint blush appeared on Cheng's face. He turned his head to Meiying, staring into her eyes for all of two seconds before awkwardly fixing his gaze elsewhere. "Uhh…you look hot today."

Meiying blushed while Jiayi, Zhuang, Feng, and Liang all stared at Cheng, utterly unimpressed.

"That's all you can think of?" Jiayi and Zhuang screeched.

Cheng winced. "Yeah, now can we move on?"

"You are pathetic, Cheng," Feng remarked, rolling his eyes. Nevertheless, he turned to Zhuang. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," Zhuang replied.

"I dare you to dare Cheng to do something," Feng said with a smirk.

"What is this?" Cheng roared in disbelief as a grin spread on Zhuang's face.

"Cheng, I dare you to give an article of clothing to the player on your right."

Jiayi burst out laughing as Cheng's eye twitched.

After a moment of consideration, Cheng sighed and started to unbutton his flannel button-up shirt.

"No one told you to strip for her," Jiayi instantly teased. Cheng punched her arm.

"God, you're annoying," he snarled. Then, without looking at Meiying, he pulled off his button-up shirt, revealing that he'd been wearing a white t-shirt underneath, and thrust the shirt towards her. "Here."

She awkwardly took it and slipped it on. "Um, thanks?"

Jiayi, Liang, Feng, and Zhuang burst into laughter again.

Suddenly, Liang's mom voice called down the hall, "Kids, time to eat!"

"Guess we'll finish this game after dinner," Liang laughed, standing up.

Jiayi held her hands out as Zhuang and Feng also stood up, saying to no one in particular, "Hey, someone pull me up."

Zhuang rolled his eyes and grabbed her hands, hauling her onto her feet. As the four left the room first, Cheng and Meiying slowly stood up, awkwardly glancing at each other.

Meiying's hands went to the flannel shirt that was too big for her frame. "Um, do you want this back?"

Blood rushed to Cheng's cheeks and he glanced away with a surly scowl. "Nah, you can keep it. I don't really like it anyways." He liked seeing her wear his shirt, even if it looked awkward on her slender frame. In the back of his mind, he wondered how Jiayi could wear his clothes and look fine, even when she was even slimmer than Meiying.

Meiying shifted her weight uncomfortably. "Uh, right, so…I guess I'll just…leave it right here for now." With that, she slipped the button-up shirt off her shoulders, setting it neatly on the floor where she'd sat.

Cheng slipped his hands into his pockets, cursing the awkward silence that had filled the air afterwards. Finally, he cleared his throat. "Well, I guess we should head to dinner."

Meiying nodded, following Cheng out of the room. Grabbing plates, they quickly piled on some food before leaving the room to the adults. Cheng silently led the way to Liang's living room, where the kids were gathered by the coffee table.

Just as they walked in, however, they heard something that made Cheng want to facepalm and made Meiying's blood boil.

Huddled together, facing way from the doorway were Jiayi, Liang, Feng, and Zhuang.

"Don't be ridiculous," Zhuang was saying. "Even if that maintenance man trains him, how could Dre suddenly become good enough to pose a challenge to us in time for the tournament?"

At that moment, Jiayi looked up, her eyes widening at the sight of Meiying and Cheng at the doorway. Immediately, she smacked Zhuang on the head. "Way to go."

Meiying set her jaw, stomped over, and set her plate down on the coffee table. "What did you guys say about Dre and the tournament?"

"It's not Cheng's fault," Zhuang immediately said.

Narrowing her eyes, Meiying planted her fists on her hips as she glared at Cheng. "Cheng, explain. Now."

Recognizing that he had no choice but to tell the truth, Cheng narrowed his eyes. "Dre entered the tournament."

Feng, Jiayi, Zhuang, and Liang picked up from there, each sharing a piece of the story of how Dre was forced into the tournament. By the end of their tale, Meiying's face was bright red with anger.

"I can't believe you guys!" she hissed, petite fists balled up in fury. "Especially you, Cheng! Why can't you all just leave Dre alone? What has he ever done to you?"

"He challenged us," Cheng responded coldly, looking very displeased at the direction the conversation was turning in.

"It's more than that," Meiying snarled. "I can tell. I think you're just being a jerk! What kind of threat is Dre to you? What, do you think he's going to—going to take away your popularity or something? What the hell is so important that you need to keep tormenting him?"

Cheng's expression darkened, but he said no more on the matter. Sitting down at the coffee table, he merely began to eat solemnly. His friends, however, knew him well enough to recognize that Meiying's reaction had hurt him.

Jiayi frowned. "Meiying, back off. I told you this before and I'll say it again: stop acting like you know the whole story. Maybe there's something deeper going on that you just don't know about."

"Yeah," Feng said, nodding. "Cut Cheng some slack."

"It wasn't our fault that Dre decided to initiate the battle himself," Zhuang pointed out.

"Exactly. No one told him to go dump that crappy water on us," Liang said.

"Forget it, guys," Cheng cut in coolly. He regarded Meiying with cold eyes. "She's not worth it."

Meiying glowered at him while the other four turned to him in shock at his words. Cheng merely continued to eat. After a moment, the other four exchanged uncertain glances before following Cheng's lead and eating silently too. Meiying, still scowling furiously, grabbed her plate and moved to the other side of the room, choosing to eat by herself instead.

* * *

**MHJ:** Evidently, you guys _can_ review very nicely when given the right incentive, so I'm gonna do it again! :D Since you guys finished my request for 10 reviews in literally 3 days though, let's up the amp a bit! I don't care how long it takes you, but I need a total of _15_ reviews before I update! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA! Same rules apply, just check the previous chapter's ending author notes. ^_^ See you guys later~~!


	10. The Qi Xi Festival

**MHJ:** Technically, I have only gotten 14 reviews, but I'm so impatient to get to the later chapters that I'm letting you guys off the hook. :P Before we continue though, there are several things I need to address so **PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING! IT'S VERY IMPORTANT!**

1) **CrispyCris** mentioned in a review that there is a ChengOC story on Wattpad that is strikingly similar to Missing a Piece. Naturally, I checked it out and yes, there were _way_ too many similarities. Not only were the names of the gang the same, but the story flow and events were also very similar. The author has deleted the story (though she has yet to respond to my message =.=) If anyone else sees something alarmingly similar to my stories, please let me know! Whether or not you decide to confront that person yourself or possibly beat them with a baseball bat (totally joking, go with a golf club instead lol jk!) is up to you. Thanks guys! :)

2) Several reviewers have asked for clarification about the website I mentioned in Missing a Piece. I'm sorry to say that the website is just _not_ working out. I'm _happy_ to say though that I've moved the stuff to Tumblr so that it's easier for me and all. Just look up **Miss Huli Jing** on Tumblr. I'll be posting pictures and writing posts/bonus stuff about all my Fanfiction pieces there! :)

3) OH MY GOSH, I totally just made my own teeth rot with the fluff I wrote in chapter 12! :3 I can't wait to upload it! I swear, you guys are all going to go _BALLISTIC_ when you read the ending to chapter 12! xD Teehee~ On the other hand, you guys might just wanna kill me and/or Cheng at the end of _this_ chapter. xD

* * *

_Previously..._

_"He challenged us," Cheng responded coldly, looking very displeased at the direction the conversation was turning in._

_"It's more than that," Meiying snarled. "I can tell. I think you're just being a jerk! What kind of threat is Dre to you? What, do you think he's going to—going to take away your popularity or something? What the hell is so important that you need to keep tormenting him?"_

_Cheng's expression darkened, but he said no more on the matter. Sitting down at the coffee table, he merely began to eat solemnly. His friends, however, knew him well enough to recognize that Meiying's reaction had hurt him._

_Jiayi frowned. "Meiying, back off. I told you this before and I'll say it again: stop acting like you know the whole story. Maybe there's something deeper going on that you just don't know about."_

_"Yeah," Feng said, nodding. "Cut Cheng some slack."_

_"It wasn't our fault that Dre decided to initiate the battle himself," Zhuang pointed out._

_"Exactly. No one told him to go dump that crappy water on us," Liang said._

_"Forget it, guys," Cheng cut in coolly. He regarded Meiying with cold eyes. "She's not worth it."_

_Meiying glowered at him while the other four turned to him in shock at his words. Cheng merely continued to eat. After a moment, the other four exchanged uncertain glances before following Cheng's lead and eating silently too. Meiying, still scowling furiously, grabbed her plate and moved to the other side of the room, choosing to eat by herself instead._

Chapter 10

"And then, Zhuang just _had_ to answer Feng's stupid question," Jiayi said, gesturing animatedly as she recounted the previous night's events to Qing and Xiang, who were listening with rapt attention. "Naturally, Meiying heard. She made us tell her everything that led up to Dre being in the tournament; then she started yelling at Cheng for bullying people purposelessly. Of course, the rest of us jumped to his defense, but then the scariest thing happened." She paused for dramatic effect.

Xiang scowled. "Well? What happened?"

"Yeah, stop teasing us," Qing whined.

Jiayi leaned closer, looking deadly serious. "He told us to stop and that she wasn't _worth it_."

Xiang and Qing's mouths dropped open.

"Cheng saying that Meiying wasn't worth it?" Xiang repeated dumbly.

"You're lying," Qing accused.

"Nope," Jiayi siad, shaking her head. Her eyes slipped to the side and lit up. "Hey, perfect timing. Cheng can tell you that I'm telling the truth!"

Xiang and Qing turned to follow Jiayi's gaze, spotting Cheng approaching with Liang, Feng, and Zhuang trailing behind him. To their confusion, the other three seemed to be in a daze.

"You guys okay?" Jiayi asked, nudging Liang as he approached.

He glanced at Cheng before whispering, "I think Cheng's finally lost it."

Jiayi furrowed her brows. "What?"

Xiang stared at Cheng. "Is it true that you said Meiying wasn't worth it yesterday?"

"Yeah, Jiayi's just making it up, right?" Qing added skeptically.

Cheng rolled his eyes. "No, she's telling the truth. I'm done with Meiying."

Silence prevailed as Jiayi, Xiang, and Qing tried to register Cheng's words.

"Wait, I'm sorry, but what did you just say?" Jiayi asked stupidly.

Xiang nodded, picking his ear with a finger. "I must've heard wrong. Did you say you were done with Meiying?"

"He must be testing us for something," Qing muttered to Jiayi and Xiang, suspiciously eying Cheng.

"Guys, calm down," Cheng sighed, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. "I've just come to my senses, that's all."

"Are you serious?" Xiang asked after another pause.

"Yes," Cheng answered.

"…No, you're not."

"Yes, I am."

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

"I don't believe you."

"You should."

"Damn…are you sure?"

"Guys, for the last time, I am over her," Cheng snapped, whacking the closest two—Xiang and Qing—over the head.

"Oh, don't be so harsh, Cheng," Feng laughed.

"Yeah, the fact that you're over Meiying—who you've basically been infatuated with since grade school—is pretty unbelievable," Liang added.

"Well, believe it," Cheng stated. "Like I said last night, she isn't worth it. She never tries to see things from my side, never hesitates to make me the villain, never thinks twice about hurting me—what's the point of chasing after a girl who doesn't care about my feelings?" He mentally shuddered at his use of the words Piao had said to him in the arcade.

Finally, Jiayi and Qing shook out of their shock-induced stupor.

"Wait, what about Dre then?" Jiayi asked slowly.

Cheng's face hardened at the mention of the American. "Even if I'm over Meiying now, I still don't approve of him being with her. If he wants to be with Meiying, then he needs to prove that he can protect her and treat her right." He crossed his arms. "Besides, something about that kid just pisses me off. No matter what, I'm still going to pound him into dust at the tournament."

Qing grinned. "Good to know, Cheng. I'm impressed you're letting her go."

Cheng shrugged uncaringly. At that moment, the bell rang for students to start heading to class. After saying their good-byes, the gang began to split, heading for their separate classes. Just before Cheng left, however, Jiayi grabbed his arm.

"What?" Cheng asked, turning back to his best friend.

Without answering or even offering an explanation, Jiayi quickly wrapped him in a hug, releasing him almost immediately after. With a wide grin, she merely said, "Don't forget about the Qi Xi Festival tonight, Cheng!" Then, with an evil wink, she added, "Bring your wallet!"

* * *

Cheng sighed for the umpteenth time as he leaned against the hallway beside Jiayi's closed door. "Are you ready yet?"

"No!" came the annoyed response. "Gosh, Cheng, just be a little more patient."

"I've been waiting for ten minutes," Cheng groaned.

"It's not my fault you decided to come early," Jiayi retorted.

Cheng sighed, leaning his head back against the wall. "I never expected you, of all girls, to take forever getting ready."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jiayi snapped. Suddenly the door opened. "Besides, I'm done now. Let's go."

"Finally," Cheng muttered, looking up as Jiayi stepped out. Abruptly, his mouth dropped open and his brain ceased to function.

Jiayi stood in the doorway, absently tucking a stray lock of her bangs behind her ear. She was clad in a flowy peach tank top over a white lace cami and a pair of short white shorts with thin, light grey vertical stripes that accentuated her subtle curves and delicate stature. Her long black hair, usually up in a bun, had been let down, tied in a loose, messy-in-a-pretty-way side braid that looked silky and soft. A small light pink cloth bow hair clip pinned some of her bangs to the side, but left most of them hanging in her dark eyes. A jade necklace sat on her smooth collarbone while pearl studs adorned her ears. Black eyeliner was smudged around her eyes in a fashion that emphasized her mysterious, hypnotically dark orbs.

In his simple white button-up shirt and dark jeans, Cheng suddenly felt very underdressed and outclassed.

Jiayi quirked a brow at him in amusement. Reaching out for his chin, light glittering off the simple silver ring on her finger, she pushed his mouth shut. "You'll catch flies like that, Cheng. Save the gaping for Meiying, okay?"

Cheng snapped out of his trance, red flushing to his cheeks, but before he could retort, Jiayi laughed.

"Oh, right," she giggled. "My bad, you're over her already."

Before Cheng could respond, she quickly linked her arm in his, pulling him down the hall. "Come on, time for the festival!"

'_Get yourself together, Cheng,_' Cheng thought to himself as he allowed himself to be pulled down the stairs towards the front door. '_Just because she's kind of dressed up and looks really pretty doesn't mean she's not still arrogant, stupid, annoying, cocky Jiayi. Stop acting so weird!_'

By the time Cheng pulled himself out of his thoughts, Jiayi had finished tugging on her navy blue converse at the door. Shooting him an odd look, she said, "Hurry up and put on your shoes." Then, as he hurried to do so, she called out through the house, "We're going now! Be back later!"

"Have fun!" Jiayi's mother called back.

"Stay safe," Jiayi's father added.

Seeing that Cheng had finished putting on his shoes, Jiayi grinned and grabbed his wrist, pulling him out the door and closing it behind them. "Let's go! You brought your wallet right?"

"Yes," Cheng sighed exasperatedly. As they walked, Jiayi released his wrist, moving her hands behind her head as she walked.

"This is going to be so much fun!" she exclaimed excitedly. "We need to go to everything at least once!"

Cheng hummed in agreement, only half listening to what she was saying. After a while, he couldn't hold in his question anymore.

"Since when have you had girly stuff?" he blurted out.

Jiayi burst out laughing. "I was wondering how long it would take you to ask that. I don't usually go around looking like this, do I?" Her question turned out to be more of a statement. "My mom buys me this stuff because she hopes I'll turn more feminine. You should've seen how happy she was when I told her what I was going to wear." She smiled down at her outfit. "I actually kind of like looking like this; maybe I'll start dressing like this more often."

"You look nice," Cheng admitted, staring ahead in embarrassment as Jiayi glanced at him.

"Thanks," she said after a while, smiling. She cleared her throat. "Back to what I was saying… We're definitely avoiding the noodle shops, but we should try everything else! Oh, and I want one of those origami birds and maybe a lantern! Oh, and we should…"

* * *

"Can you imagine how bad of a wife I would have made back in ancient times?" Jiayi laughed, jerking off the last piece of meat from the kabob Cheng had bought her. She tossed the stick into a nearby trash can. "Can't cook, can't sew, more interested in kung fu than housework."

Cheng chuckled. "True, but maybe some traveling warrior or someone would have taken a liking to you."

At that, Jiayi laughed. "That would've been awesome. Would you have been a traveling warrior in ancient times?" She nudged him, grinning. "Imagine, maybe we were best friends in our past lives as well!"

Cheng rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, Jiayi's eyes lit up.

"Ooh, Cheng, buy me one of those glow sticks!" she exclaimed, latching onto Cheng.

Cheng rolled his eyes and sighed. "Alright, alright."

Neither noticed that Jiayi, instead of grabbing Cheng's wrist or linking her arm in his like she usually did, had grabbed Cheng's hand firmly, their hands fitting cozily together. The man selling the glow sticks smiled as the pair approached.

"One please," Cheng said, reaching into his pocket for his wallet.

The man nodded, handing one to Jiayi as he accepted Cheng's money.

Jiayi hurriedly snapped the stick over her knee, grinning as glowing neon color began to spread throughout the originally colorless stick. Giggling, she nudged Cheng. "Hey, Cheng, you should buy one too."

"That's okay," Cheng said, rolling his eyes.

"You should," the man agreed. "How can you deny what your pretty little girlfriend wants? Since it's the Qi Xi Festival, we have a special offer for couples tonight anyways; buy one, get the second fifty percent off."

The two blushed.

"We're not—" Cheng hurriedly tried to explain, but Jiayi appeared to have different ideas.

"Yeah, Cheng," she said, flashing a superior grin as she grabbed his hand and swung it back and forth. "How can you deny what I want?"

Cheng gave her a glare. "Fine," he sighed, handing over some more money. "Give me one too."

The man grinned and accepted the money, handing another colorless stick to Cheng.

He cracked it as they walked away, not as enthusiastic about the color spreading through it as Jiayi was. "Why'd you act like we were dating?"

"Uh, hello?" Jiayi said, looking at him as if he were stupid. "You get a second one fifty percent off if you're a couple! Don't you want to save money?"

"I didn't even want one," Cheng said, rolling his eyes.

"Whatever," Jiayi said cheerfully.

As they passed the Shadow Theatre, Jiayi grabbed Cheng's arm, pulling him to a stop.

"Seriously?" Cheng asked, sighing. "You want to watch the shadow puppet show about Niulang and Zhinu? You already know the story."

"It's romantic and cute," Jiayi exclaimed defensively. "Plus, they give out free origami magpies."

"I knew it had something to do with free things. You're ridiculous," Cheng muttered, parting the curtains slightly. "The show already started anyway."

"Yeah, but it's wrapping up," Jiayi responded. "I just want to look at the times."

Cheng sighed but leaned in to stare at the paper taped to the curtain as well. "Next show doesn't start for about five minutes after this one ends. Probably 'cause they need to reset their stage and stuff, right?"

"Yeah," Jiayi responded. Suddenly, clapping could be heard inside the tent and the sounds of people moving about started up. "Oh, looks like the show ended. We should just wait here for the next one."

"Whatever you want," Cheng said, sticking his hands into his pockets as he and Jiayi shuffled out of the way so that people could leave the tent. As they waited, Cheng and Jiayi made small chat as they scrutinized the people leaving the tent. Suddenly, someone they never expected to run into at the festival stepped out, causing Jiayi to drop her glow stick and Cheng to break off in midsentence.

Mr. Han's eyes widened when he spotted the two teens standing mere feet away, frozen in shock at the sight of him. Their muscles instantly tightened as they subtly firmed their stances by instinct. After a moment, Mr. Han took a wobbly step towards them, hobbling along.

"Hello," he said cautiously, bending down to pick up Jiayi's dropped glow stick. He held it out for her with the air of a kind grandfather. "Enjoying the festival?"

Jiayi accepted her glow stick back warily.

"Yes, we are," Cheng responded stiffly.

Mr. Han nodded, his eyes flickering between the two teenagers. The bruises on Jiayi's forehead and cheek had both just begun to fade, but they were still quite prevalent, and Cheng's wrist was still bandaged tightly. The maintenance man's eyes seemed to darken in sadness, but he just nodded. "That's good."

At that moment, a black woman emerged from the tent, spotting Mr. Han immediately.

"**Oh, Mr. Han, there you are!**" she exclaimed, moving towards them. She smiled kindly at the sight of Cheng and Jiayi. "Hello!" she said in accented Chinese. Her eyes flickered over them, narrowing slightly with concern over their injuries. "**Are you kids kung fu students as well?**"

"**Yes,**" Jiayi answered politely, nodding. Given the circumstances and the family resemblance, she guessed that the woman was Dre's mother. "**Do you, by any chance, have a son named Dre?**"

The woman grinned. "**Why, yes. Are you friends?**"

Cheng shrugged. "**We do not have many classes with him, but we know him.**"

"**I see,**" the woman said.

"**Tell him we say hi,**" Cheng added, exchanging a wicked look with Jiayi at the thought of Dre's reaction. Neither the woman nor Mr. Han seemed to notice their silent exchange.

The woman nodded before glancing at Mr. Han. "**So how do you know each other?**"

Mr. Han shook his head. "**They just some kids I met. Should we go?**"

The woman nodded. "**Alright then.**" She looked at Cheng and Jiayi, smiling, "**Bye! Have fun at the festival.**"

The two teenagers nodded.

"**You too,**" Jiayi said, forcing a very realistic smile.

Cheng locked eyes with the maintenance man. "**Yes, have a good festival.**"

Mr. Han looked away from Cheng's accusing eyes, looking down instead at the way Cheng's hand had wrapped around Jiayi's waist, pulling her protectively closer. She didn't seem to notice yet.

With a wave, Mr. Han and the woman left, and it was only then that Jiayi and Cheng realized their position. With bright blushes, they jumped apart as if they were burned where they touched.

"So," Jiayi said after a second, her blush slowly fading. "Let's go find a bench somewhere and rest our feet as we wait, okay?"

Cheng nodded. "Sure, sounds good."

With that, Jiayi shyly grabbed Cheng's hand again as she led them away from the Shadow Theatre in search of park benches. After about a minute of walking around, they finally found one that was unoccupied and quickly rushed to claim it.

"Phew," Jiayi sighed as she sat down. "My feet are exhausted."

Cheng nodded as he sat down. "Yeah, same here. You'd think kung fu would make us less susceptible to that."

Jiayi nodded, leaning sideways so she could rest her head on Cheng's shoulder. Neither of them spoke. After a moment, Cheng tilted his own head to lean against Jiayi's. Her hair smelled nice—a fresh, unnameable, appealing scent that he wouldn't mind smelling all day.

"Today was fun," Jiayi suddenly said softly.

"Even though I—I mean, _you_ spent, like, all my money," Cheng began. "I agree."

"You should treat me out more often," Jiayi said, lifting her head and sitting up with a grin. "It's fun getting all this stuff for free."

Cheng rolled his eyes. "Fun for you, I guess."

Jiayi snickered before settling to fiddling with her glow stick with a content smile on her face.

Cheng glanced over at her, taking the opportunity to drink in more of her appearance without her noticing. A soft breeze rolled by, ruffling Jiayi's hair and her flowy tank top. With the lights of the festival dancing over her skin, she looked more radiant than usual. Suddenly, she looked over, amusement in her eyes when she caught him staring.

"Like what you see?" she teased, giggling.

Cheng shrugged, still staring into her hypnotic eyes. "You look nice today."

A faint blush appeared on Jiayi's cheeks, and—was it just his imagination?—her eyes flickered downwards to his lips. Though clearly flustered, she still grinned cockily. "Yeah, I know I do."

Cheng scoffed, an amused smile playing on his lips. "Modest as ever."

"You know it," Jiayi breathed.

Suddenly, a perky voice broke through the quiet moment between them.

"Jiayi!"

Like the burst of a bubble, Cheng and Jiayi suddenly became aware of how close they'd gotten—mere inches between their faces. They leapt apart, Cheng coughing awkwardly into his hand while Jiayi cleared her throat nervously.

Someone started laughing, drawing the reddened Cheng and Jiayi's attention.

"H-hey Chunhua," Jiayi greeted, still waiting for her heart to stop hammering.

A cute girl in a light blue floral dress flitted over, looking apologetic, embarrassed, and guilty all at once. "Hey, Jiayi, Cheng. Uh..." she paused, taking in how Cheng and Jiayi seemed adamant about looking at anything else but each other. Intuition told her that the two would likely rip her head off if she commented on the moment she'd just accidentally interrupted, so she settled for a mere sly grin sent to Jiayi. "Guess what I just saw at the Shadow Theatre!"

"The puppet show?" Jiayi snarked, though her sarcasm still seemed a bit shaky.

Chunhua rolled her eyes. "Okay, besides that."

"What?" Cheng asked, slowly regaining control over his beating heart and blushing face.

"Okay, you're never going to believe this," Chunhua began, hands fluttering animatedly. "During the show, the silhouettes of two people kissed when Niulang and Zhinu met. I thought it was just something new they added to the show, but then, after everyone left the theatre, Meiying and Dre came out from behind the stage!" She sighed contentedly, oblivious to the sudden tenseness of Jiayi and Cheng's shoulders. "It was so cute and romantic! Good thing I stayed after to search for my phone. Otherwise, I would've missed it!"

At that moment, the mentioned phone began to ring, and Chunhua looked down at it in surprise. With a wave, she started walking away, saying, "Well I'll see you guys later! Enjoy the festival!"

Jiayi eyed Cheng warily as Cheng's clenched fists started to shake. Just as he suddenly stood up, Jiayi grabbed his hand.

"Cheng, come on, please don't do this tonight," she begged, pouting. "Just forget about him. We can deal with him tomorrow. Aren't you having fun with me right now?"

"Yeah, yeah," Cheng muttered absently, shaking her hands off. "I'll be right back. Meet you here in a few minutes."

With that, he stormed off angrily, leaving Jiayi standing by the park bench by herself.

Sighing in frustration and disbelief, Jiayi sank back down onto the bench, leaning her elbows on her knees and propping up her head with her hands. "He _would_ do this to me." Straightening up, she kicked her feet childishly, staring sullenly at the ground. "And he claims he's over her..."

"Jiayi?"

Startled, Jiayi's head snapped up, eyes wide in surprise at seeing Meiying and Dre standing before her.

Dre was looking at her apprehensively, tugging on Meiying's arm.

"**Yo, Meiying, let's get out of here,**" he mumbled. "**If _she's_ here, Cheng can't be too far away.**"

"**Actually**," Jiayi said dryly. "**This is the safest place you can be. Cheng just left to look for you.**"

Relief filled Dre's eyes while concern filled Meiying's.

"You okay?" Meiying asked. "I've never seen you look sad before."

Jiayi just shrugged.

"This must be the first time I've seen you look so dolled up. Were you and Cheng on a date?"

Jiayi shrugged again.

Biting her lip, Meiying shook her head and sighed. "How can you put up with him? Ditching you like this… At the Qi Xi Festival no less!"

Jiayi's eyes narrowed. "Can we not talk about this? Thanks."

"Fine," Meiying responded. "Enjoy the festival then, Jiayi." Then to Dre, she said gently, "**Come on, there are more booths we can go to.**"

Dre sent Jiayi a curious look, having not understood a word of her conversation with Meiying, before following Meiying away towards the other booths of the festival. Along the way, he subtly picked up Meiying's hand in his, lacing their fingers together. Meiying suppressed a smile, but otherwise continued on as if nothing had happened.

Jiayi glared after them, staring enviously at their linked hands. Sighing, she dropped her head back onto her hands as she waited for Cheng to return.

* * *

Cheng sighed as he trudged back towards the park bench where he'd left Jiayi. After almost ten minutes of running around the park, trying to find Dre so he could strangle him, he had to admit defeat. It wasn't until the park bench came into view with a saddened Jiayi still sitting on it that the situation hit him with the force of a truck.

'_Shit_,' he thought, mentally facepalming himself. '_Did I really just blow off my best friend to chase after Dre and Meiying on their date? And I was actually enjoying myself earlier. Ugh, why do I always screw stuff up?_'

Jiayi looked up as he approached, her downhearted pout changing into one of indifference. She stood up as he came to a stop by the bench. "You're back."

"Yeah," Cheng said, wincing at the indifference in Jiayi's eyes. They lacked their usual mischievous warmth, looking instead cold as steel. "Uh, sorry for just…you know, leaving you…here."

Jiayi merely shrugged. "Can you take me home now?"

Cheng's eyes widened in alarm. "What? Why? Aren't you having fun?"

"I was," Jiayi said casually. "But the mood was kind of killed, you know?"

Sighing, Cheng nodded. "Alright, then. I'll walk you home."

The walk back to Jiayi's house was spent in almost near silence. Finally, Cheng couldn't take it anymore.

"Why're you _so_ upset," he asked after Jiayi ignored his attempt at conversation for the umpteenth time.

"I just thought that we—" Jiayi broke off. Cheng stared at her expectantly, but she just gave a huff of frustration and looked away. "Nevermind. Just forget it."

"But—" Cheng tried.

Jiayi whirled to face him, and he was alarmed to find her face red with rage and her eyes glassy. "I said _forget it_."

Cheng snapped his mouth closed, surprised with Jiayi's unusual aggressiveness.

They continued in silence until they reached Jiayi's front door.

"Thanks for the good time," Jiayi said flatly as she opened the door. Without giving him adequate time to respond, she closed the door in his face.

He stood there, staring at the door in shock and confusion, before sighing and starting to walk away, mentally cursing himself for his stupidity.

Meanwhile, inside her house, Jiayi leaned against the front door.

'_Why, Cheng?_' she mused sadly. '_Am I not pretty enough or something? Why do you keep chasing Meiying when I'm right here? Aren't I good enough?_'

* * *

**MHJ:** So if you read the pre-chapter author's notes, you'd know that I now have a Tumblr account for my fanfiction. Once again, it is called "Miss Huli Jing". Let me know in the reviews if you have any ideas for what I should put on it! :)

**Alright, in order for me to upload the next chapter (Qi Xi Festival time!), you guys need to leave me at least...12 reviews.**

P.S. I've noticed there are a lot more anonymous reviews than usual xD hopefully they're all real, but I'll warn you guys again. Don't go leaving multiple reviews so I can just upload sooner. And if you review, make it meaningful pleease~ not just "this is good, now update". Okay, byeee~~


	11. Fight for Peace

**MHJ:** Sooooo I went on a college tour today. Did you guys know that BU's 7-year medical program admits roughly 20 students out of 1000 applicants? Daaaang, suddenly not so confident about getting into the 7-year program lol. At least it's not as bad as Brown's. I heard Brown's 7-year medical program admitted like 50 out of 6000 or something. Yikes . Anyways...

Are you guys freaking serious? O.O You finished the review quota in less than 24 hours! :OO I guess I have no choice but to upload the next chapter lol.

* * *

_Previously..._

_Jiayi whirled to face him, and he was alarmed to find her face red with rage and her eyes glassy. "I said forget it."_

_Cheng snapped his mouth closed, surprised with Jiayi's unusual aggressiveness._

_They continued in silence until they reached Jiayi's front door._

_"Thanks for the good time," Jiayi said flatly as she opened the door. Without giving him adequate time to respond, she closed the door in his face._

_He stood there, staring at the door in shock and confusion, before sighing and starting to walk away, mentally cursing himself for his stupidity._

_Meanwhile, inside her house, Jiayi leaned against the front door._

_'Why, Cheng?' she mused sadly. 'Am I not pretty enough or something? Why do you keep chasing Meiying when I'm right here? Aren't I good enough?'_

Chapter 11

"Where exactly are you taking me?"

Cheng rolled his eyes at the dry, toneless voice behind him. Tightening his grip on Jiayi's thin wrist, he continued dragging her through the streets of Beijing. "Shut up. Just wait and see." Jiayi muttered something incoherently under her breath, but Cheng was fairly certain it wasn't anything nice. Rolling his eyes again, he remarked, "Stop being so immature, Jiayi. It's your fault that I have to literally drag you around just to get you to talk to me."

Ever since the Qi Xi Festival, Jiayi had been acting more ferociously than Cheng had ever seen her. She avoided him like the plague and became overly hostile whenever she was forced to speak with him. The gang had been appalled by her behavior at first, but after an explanation of the events that occurred during the festival, they shouted at Cheng for his actions and never spoke of the topic again.

After a few solid days of Jiayi's aggressive treatment, everyone was just about ready to yank their hair out. It was Liang who came up with the possible solution.

_Liang sighed as Jiayi brushed by their lunch table again, this time without even glancing over. "Cheng, you and Jiayi need to resolve this problem. I'm tired of not being able to hang out with both of you together."_

_"Me too," Qing said._

_Cheng groaned in frustration. "I wish we could! Jiayi won't give me a chance to talk to her without biting my head off!"_

_"You know what you should do?" Liang asked. "You guys should fight it out. Go to the dojo and just spar away all the frustration and anger."_

_"That," Cheng said slowly, "is actually a pretty good idea."_

_Qing grinned. "Do it today! I want to be able to sit with you _and_ Jiayi tomorrow."_

_Cheng nodded. "Okay, okay."_

Finally, Cheng saw the Fighting Dragon dojo's gates rise to greet him, and a smile split his face at the sight of the vast green lawn. Unable to help himself, he pulled Jiayi closer and nudged her with his arm, nodding towards the massive space. "Remember when we trained there with the beginner classes?"

"How could I not?" Jiayi snorted.

"Good times," Cheng mused nostalgically. Turning to Jiayi, he tugged her backpack off, ignoring her annoyed protests, before grabbing her wrist again. "Come on."

He led her to one of the private dojos, pushing the door open with his free hand. Once inside, he released Jiayi's wrist, moving to the wall and dropping their backpacks onto the floor unceremoniously. Meanwhile, Jiayi leaned against the closed door, crossing her arms nonchalantly.

"You drag me all the way here from the high school the moment classes ended," she drawled. "Any particular reason why?"

Cheng strolled over, loosening the collar of his shirt; stopping before Jiayi, who eyed him with stony indifference, he calmly rolled up his sleeves. Suddenly, his fist flew out, catching the unsuspecting Jiayi in the face with enough force to send her spinning and just barely managing to brace herself against the wall.

"We're fighting out all this tension between us," Cheng said, rolling his shoulders and stretching his neck as Jiayi straightened up.

A hand braced against the wall, body still turned away, she stared at him owlishly for a moment. He stared back expectantly until she finally scoffed, the first smile he'd seen in days appearing on her face.

Without warning, she lunged, body turning fully towards Cheng as she caught his face with a fierce right hook, sending Cheng careening away. He caught himself in a crouch, a full grin appearing on his face. Instead of returning a punch, he leapt to his feet and darted away towards the mat in the center of the dojo with Jiayi close on his heels.

Once his feet hit the mat, Cheng whirled around, meeting Jiayi's flying tackle head on. They collapsed backward, but before Jiayi's body weight hit him, Cheng kicked his feet up, sending her flying over his head. She landed gracefully on her feet, running back towards Cheng as he got up.

Pivoting on one foot, she sent her leg up towards Cheng's head, but he blocked it with his forearm, his free hand braced against it. Feeling adrenaline starting to pump through his veins, he grinned at Jiayi. "Feeling better?"

"Getting there," she replied, grinning wolfishly as well.

They broke apart simultaneously, and Cheng immediately planted his foot in Jiayi's stomach, knocking her back. She caught herself on her hands just before her head smashed onto the padded floor and sprang away in a back handspring. Upon landing on her feet, she lunged forward with a flurry of quick jabs, all of which Cheng dodged easily. Suddenly, Jiayi disappeared from in front of Cheng, dancing around him with a fluid spin and sending her knee digging into his back with enough force to make him pitch forward.

He caught himself with a somersault, dropping to his side immediately after and rolling out of the way of an axe kick. Quickly, he braced himself with his arms and swept his legs along the floor, but Jiayi performed a quick backflip out of the way before Cheng could literally knock her off her feet.

In unison, they darted forth to meet in the middle of the mat, beginning to exchange precise blows that were just as precisely blocked. Again and again, one attacked and the other blocked. A punch was swept away by an open hand; a kick was stopped with sturdy palms.

Cheng stepped back, allowing Jiayi to advance a step before the situation reversed and it was suddenly Jiayi who was forced to step back as Cheng advanced. In a matter of seconds, the spar began to resemble a dance.

"You reading my mind?" Jiayi asked in amusement when Cheng dodged her punches as if he knew they were coming.

"They say great minds think alike," Cheng responded cheekily as Jiayi dodged a kick perfectly.

"You wish your mind was as great as mine," Jiayi teased back, testing out an uppercut.

Cheng moved his head aside fractionally, allowing Jiayi's fist to brush by harmlessly. "Isn't that supposed to be my line?"

"This fight is never going to end."

"We'll see about that."

Without warning, Cheng suddenly ducked Jiayi's attack and lunged forward, tackling her around the waist. They collapsed on the ground, Jiayi's surprised shriek quickly dissolving into uncontrollable laughter as Cheng's body weight pinned her down easily.

"Looks like you lose," Cheng said with a smug grin, holding down Jiayi's wrists as he propped himself up so that he wasn't completely pressed against her.

Jiayi rolled her eyes. "Dummy." With a sudden jerk of her knee, she flipped them over, landing Cheng flat on his back with Jiayi straddling his midsection. "Are you stupid? I _always_ win."

"I wouldn't say_ always_," Cheng deadpanned, crossing his arms.

Jiayi chuckled, leaning forward to plant her hands on either side of Cheng's head. "Well, you'll be happy to know that I can't find it in me to stay mad at you anymore. I guess you're forgiven."

"That's good news," Cheng agreed, uncrossing his arms. However, he realized he didn't know where to place them—on her thighs seemed too inappropriate, on her waist seemed too intimate, flat on the ground seemed too awkward—so he just crossed them again. "So do you actually want to talk about the festival?"

At that, the familiar smile dropped off of Jiayi's face. Looking aside with guarded eyes, she slithered off of Cheng, opting to sit beside him with her knees hugged to her chest. "Not really."

Sitting up, Cheng leaned back on his arms. "Why not?"

"Because I don't want to?"

"There's no reason that you don't want to?"

"None that I want to share with you."

"You're hiding something."

"No, I'm not."

"You are."

"We're not having this conversation. I already said you're forgiven, right?"

"That's not good enough. I want to be able to prevent this from ever happening again."

At that, Jiayi snorted, rolling her eyes amusedly. "If you're as over Meiying as you claim, you shouldn't have to worry about that."

A metaphorical light bulb went off in Cheng's head. Leaning closer to Jiayi, eyes wide and lips pulled back in a wicked grin. "Wait. You're not…jealous are you?"

With her head propped on her knees, half buried by her arms, it was impossible to tell if she blushed or not; she rolled her eyes. "Anyone would be jealous if their best friend constantly picked a girl over them. Don't get too excited there, buddy."

Laughing good-naturedly while mentally kicking himself in embarrassment, Cheng nodded. "Sorry. I promise I'll stop being so obsessive over Meiying, okay?"

Jiayi lifted her head, smiling softly. "Okay."

Sighing, Cheng stood up, brushing off his clothes before extending a hand out to Jiayi. "Come on, let's head home."

Jiayi merely nodded, taking his hand and allowing him to hoist her up. As they retrieved their bags and left the dojo in laughter, Jiayi mused about how she, for once, wished she wasn't such a good liar.

Jealous of Meiying? Why, of course she was.

* * *

"Glad you two finally made up," Xiang said, grinning as Jiayi and Cheng approached the gang, one consumed in a fit of laughter while the other chuckled along more conservatively.

"Naturally," Jiayi chirped cheerfully, coming to a stop as she and Cheng completed the circle. "You guys know Cheng can't live without me. You should've seen him—he was on his knees, puppy dog eyes and everything, just begging for forgiveness!"

"Let's not get too carried away here," Cheng cut in, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah," Feng said, surprising Cheng with his sudden agreement. "The day Cheng falls to his knees to beg is the day I let you guys tag along on one of my dates with Biyu."

Jiayi and Zhuang's eyes flashed and they whipped to Cheng, shouting, "Quick, Cheng! Get down on your knees and beg for something!"

"I didn't mean it like that," Feng sighed wearily.

"Well at any rate," Qing interrupted, throwing his arms around Cheng and Jiayi's shoulders. "I am so relieved! Now we can start doing things together again!"

"Plus, lunch won't be so awkward anymore," Liang agreed.

"Hey guys."

Almost in unison, the gang turned to face their newcomer—a boy from Cheng's grade with slightly slanted brown eyes and a dazzling smile.

"Hey, Jun!" Cheng, Liang, Qing, and Jiayi chorused while their three upperclassmen friends merely nodded their heads in greeting.

"I just need to talk to Jiayi for a moment," Jun said with a sheepish smile.

Shrugging, the gang turned back to their own conversations while Jiayi stepped away, looking at him curiously. "What's up?"

"Well, have you heard of Missing a Piece?" Jun asked, fiddling with something in his pocket. He felt a little awkward speaking with her when her friends were a mere foot away, but he hid his discomfort well.

Jiayi's eyes lit up. "You mean that new romance movie about a pair of best friends who fall for each other? I heard it was really good; lots of positive reviews."

Jun nodded. "Yeah, that one. Do you want to see it with me this weekend?"

Abruptly, all conversation ended as the rest of Jiayi's friends gave away the fact that they'd all been eavesdropping. Jiayi herself also appeared taken off guard, surprise filling her dark grey orbs.

A kind smile appearing on her face, she opened her mouth to reply, but before a sound could escape, Cheng cut in.

"She's not interested," he spat harshly, a dark look on his face as he grabbed Jiayi's wrist to pull her away.

"Whoa there! Why not let her decide that for herself?" Jun snapped back, making a grab for Jiay's other wrist.

Just as Jun's fingers brushed Jiayi's skin, Cheng suddenly whirled around and punched Jun in the face so hard that the other boy nearly stumbled down onto the grass.

"I _said_ she's not interested," Cheng snarled again, ignoring how people had started to stare. Motioning for the speechless gang to follow him, he grabbed Jiayi's wrist again, pulling her towards the school with the other boys in tow.

After a moment of silently following Cheng, Jiayi spoke.

"Cheng," she said. Though Cheng couldn't see her face, he could hear her amused smirk in her voice. "Are you—dare I say it—_jealous_?"

"You're kidding," was Cheng's rough response.

"It kinda seems that you are."

"You can't really deny it."

"Yeah, Cheng, you just punched a guy for asking Jiayi out."

"Wow, you know, I kind of expected this type of behavior from Cheng."

"Yeah, I'm not that surprised either."

Cheng's grip on Jiayi's wrist tightened and he gritted his teeth in frustration as his friends continued to speculate that he was jealous. He wasn't. How could he be jealous? Jiayi was his best friend so he was practically required to find her gross and cooty-infested by default. He just didn't want her going out with Jun because…because…because Jun was a fleabag! Jiayi was too good for him; he would have only hurt her.

"Guys, shut up, please," Cheng finally snapped. The boys fell silent, but Jiayi stopped, pulling Cheng to a stop as well. She had her trademark wolfish grin on by the time he turned to face her.

Planting her fists on her hips, Jiayi leaned closer, her grin morphing into a predatory smirk. "Okay, Mr. I-was-so-clearly-jealous-yet-I-foolishly-deny-it-w ith-all-my-might, if you weren't jealous, then prove it."

At the competitive edge in her voice, Cheng bristled. "How."

"Make a bet with me," Jiayi said sweetly. "Are you sure you aren't jealous?"

"Please," Cheng scoffed, his competitive streak rising. "I would never be jealous of any guy interested in you."

Jiayi grinned slyly, her face becoming almost more vulpine as her eyes flashed mischievously. "If you say so. When I win, you'll do whatever I want, right?"

"You mean 'if'," Cheng growled. "When _I_ win, _you_ can do whatever _I_ want."

"Deal," Jiayi purred, holding out a hand.

As they shook, finalizing the bet, the other boys behind them exchanged glances. Liang in particular eyed Jiayi, shaking his head in amusement.

* * *

**MHJ:** Silly green-with-envy Cheng...making bets with the unbeatable Jiayi... To the reviewers who wanted some drama, I hope this satisfied you :) I was pretty amused when I saw the requests for another guy vying for Jiayi's affections since I'd already created Jun as a character lolol. Now, about the next chapter, since the ending is pretty fluffy, I'm raising the review quota! :3

Quota for Next Chapter: **18 reviews**!

Another reminder: Always There and Missing a Piece are now on Tumblr! Just look up **Miss Huli Jing** for bonus features on all of my fanfiction. So just leave me a PM or a review telling me what kind of bonus features you want to see! :) Seeya guys later!


	12. Queen of Bets

**MHJ:** Guys! You must slow down! lol xD You finished the quota in less than 24 hours AGAIN! I needs some time to write chapter 13 lolol.

Just so you guys know, I'm trying to write the chapters as fast as I can so that I'm not scrambling around when you guys finish the quota. It's been good up 'til now lol. Chapter 12 (this chapter) was finished a few days ago, but I don't have any other chapters all set and stored in my Doc Manager. HOWEVER, I have the outlines made for all of the other chapters so I know exactly what to put in each chapter. (Just in case you were curious) :)

* * *

_Previously..._

_Planting her fists on her hips, Jiayi leaned closer, her grin morphing into a predatory smirk. "Okay, Mr. I-was-so-clearly-jealous-yet-I-foolishly-deny-it-w ith-all-my-might, if you weren't jealous, then prove it."_

_At the competitive edge in her voice, Cheng bristled. "How."_

_"Make a bet with me," Jiayi said sweetly. "Are you sure you aren't jealous?"_

_"Please," Cheng scoffed, his competitive streak rising. "I would never be jealous of any guy interested in you."_

_Jiayi grinned slyly, her face becoming almost more vulpine as her eyes flashed mischievously. "If you say so. When I win, you'll do whatever I want, right?"_

_"You mean 'if'," Cheng growled. "When _I_ win, _you_ can do whatever _I_ want."_

_"Deal," Jiayi purred, holding out a hand._

_As they shook, finalizing the bet, the other boys behind them exchanged glances. Liang in particular eyed Jiayi, shaking his head in amusement._

Chapter 12

Liang sighed in relief as he walked out of his last class for the day. As he headed for the courtyard to meet up with his friends, he fished out his water bottle from his backpack, prepared to open it for a refreshing sip. Before he could even touch the cap, however, his sharp eyes caught a familiar face walking towards him.

"Hey Jiayi," he greeted when the girl got within earshot.

"Hey Liang," she replied wearily. Her brows were furrowed and she stared at the ground intensely as she walked, seemingly deep in thought.

"You look like you're thinking hard," Liang remarked, opening his water bottle. He lifted it up to his lips, allowing the cool water to fill his mouth.

"Liang, what attracts you in a girl?"

At the wholly unexpected question, Liang spat out the water, coughing as he did so. Luckily, they'd already made it out into the courtyard by then so the water splashed harmlessly onto the grass.

"Sorry," Liang coughed. "What did you say?"

"I need to know how to be flirty," Jiayi said, still frowning thoughtfully.

Liang stared at her. "Why?"

"For the bet of course!" Jiayi explained exasperatedly. "I need to figure out how to flirt with guys so I can win the bet."

The gang, minus Cheng, looked up when Liang and Jiayi approached.

"Hey guys," Feng said casually.

Liang returned the greeting while Jiayi just nodded, glancing around. "Where's Cheng?"

"Not here yet," Zhuang replied, mindlessly picking at the grass he was sitting on.

"Perfect!" Jiayi exclaimed, sitting down with her friends. "You guys can help me then!"

"Help you with what?" Xiang asked suspiciously.

Jiayi beamed. "Teach me how to flirt."

Silence descended upon the group.

"Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction too," Liang said, shrugging when his friends' dumbstruck faces turned to him for an explanation.

"Why do you need to learn how to flirt?" Qing asked Jiayi, bewildered.

"That's what I said too," Liang quipped.

Jiayi nudged him, rolling her eyes. "I need to beat Cheng in the bet."

The three upperclassmen, Xiang, Feng, and Zhuang, exchanged suspicious glances. After a brief conversation through their eyes, Xiang leaned forward. "Do you like Cheng?"

Jiayi and Liang both stared at him.

"Of course she does," Liang stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Jiayi held back an amused laugh. "You guys didn't know? Liang's known this entire time."

"I _knew_ it!" Feng, Xiang, and Zhuang suddenly howled at once, enormous grins emerging on their faces as they slapped high fives with each other.

Xiang then froze and whipped his head toward Liang. "Wait, you knew this entire time?"

"Of course," Liang deadpanned, yawning. "Jiayi and I are practically twins, remember? We have that special twin connection."

"Fraternal twins though; sorry, Liang, but it's clear that I'm the prettier twin," Jiayi joked, slinging an arm around Liang's shoulders. He just rolled his eyes good-naturedly. Turning back to the others, she snickered, "You guys really didn't know?"

"We've always suspected it," Feng admitted, exchanging a glance with his fellow upperclassmen.

Zhuang shook his head in bewilderment. "We were right? Wow."

"Is it really that shocking?" Jiayi laughed.

Qing, who had remained silent the entire time with an unreadable expression, suddenly seemed to awaken from his stupor. Looking at Jiayi in confusion, he said, "Wait…I…"

"Uh oh, looks like our midget here is just as dense as Cheng is," Zhuang teased, ruffling Qing's short hair.

Qing scowled, shaking Zhuang's hand away. "No, that's not it! I'm just kind of surprised. I mean, I guess I always just took that for granted. I didn't even consider the fact that Jiayi might not like Cheng."

Everyone stared.

"Oh, you're so cute," Jiayi chortled, grabbing Qing in a hug. Everyone else burst out laughing as well while Qing just looked affronted and slightly embarrassed.

"Zhuang had a point though," Xiang remarked as he calmed down. "Cheng _is_ as dense as a brick."

"Denser than bricks," Zhuang corrected.

"Anyways," Jiayi cut in, rolling her eyes. "Flirting 101 please?"

The boys exchanged a glance before simultaneously shrugging.

"Just look pretty and approachable, I guess," Feng said.

"Yeah, lots of smiles and friendly looks," Xiang added.

"Throw in a playful wink or two maybe," Zhuang offered.

Liang and Qing exchanged a look.

"That's pretty much it," Liang said, scratching the back of his head.

Qing nodded. "Yeah, I think they got it all."

Jiayi sighed. "This might be harder than I thought."

"You don't know that," Liang argued. "You might turn out to be a natural flirt, you know?"

Jiayi eyed him dubiously. "If you say so."

"Guys," Qing suddenly hissed, making wild motions to signal for them to stop talking. "Cheng's coming over!"

The group immediately clamped up for a split second before Xiang and Liang fluidly leapt into a new conversation just as Cheng neared. Recognizing the tactic they used, Cheng arched a brow in confusion.

"What were you guys talking about before I got here?" he demanded suspiciously.

"Nothing!" Zhuang sang, slinging an arm around Cheng's shoulders as he led him away towards the gate. "Why don't we all go to my place today?"

"Yeah," Qing cheered.

"Sounds fun," Feng and Xiang agreed.

"Okay," Cheng said slowly, still eying them suspiciously.

Meanwhile, unnoticed by everyone else, Liang nudged Jiayi discreetly. "Now's your chance. Give the flirting thing a try."

Gulping, Jiayi nodded determinedly. With impressively real faux confidence, she quickened her pace so that she was walking ahead of the group. Just outside the school, she gave a quick glance at her surroundings and zeroed in on a guy who looked to be around her age. Though he wasn't by any means super attractive, his looks were still above average.

Adjusting her walk so that she—hopefully—appeared more graceful, she caught the unknown boy's gaze. Maintaining eye contact with him and knowing that Cheng could see her perfectly, she grinned her best smile and gave a friendly wink as she passed. To her—and her friends behind her—shock, the boy actually smiled back.

Though Jiayi continued walking as if nothing had happened, the rest of the gang could see the boy turning his head to follow Jiayi with his eyes. Cheng's jaw dropped, an angry flush quickly rising in his face.

"He did not just do that," Cheng hissed, slowing down and starting to turn around to sock the guy right in the face. Feng grabbed him before he could, pulling him away casually.

"Calm down, Cheng," he chuckled.

"That guy was totally checking Jiayi out!" Cheng choked furiously, but he stopped fighting to get out of Feng's grip and continued walking with his friends.

Xiang grinned, ruffling Jiayi's hair affectionately. "Well, our little Jiayi here is a beautiful girl."

"Yeah, can't blame the poor guy," Zhuang snickered, looking both smug and amused at the sour scowl on Cheng's face.

Qing looked the most devious. "Jealous, Cheng?"

The bet…

"No!" Cheng suddenly roared. He crossed his arms stubbornly as he walked. "I see what you're trying to do, Jiayi, but I'm not about to lose the bet!"

Jiayi glanced back innocently. "What am I doing? I'm just trying to walk down the street with my best friends."

"I see what you're trying to do," Cheng repeated, narrowing his eyes at her. "It's not going to work. Be prepared to be my slave for a month after I win."

"My, my, Cheng," Jiayi remarked breezily, a devilish gleam in her eyes. "No need to be so forward."

The other boys burst out in roaring laughter while Cheng flushed red and began sputtering.

As Cheng continued to sputter nonsense in his blind anger, Liang caught up with Jiayi and sent her a triumphant grin. "I told you you'd be a natural flirt. Nicely done!"

Jiayi returned the grin with a wolfish one of her own.

"Why, thank you," she giggled. Grinning with confidence, she lifted her fist, clenching it with determination. "I think I might actually be able to do this!"

Liang glanced back, where he could see Cheng still practically spewing fire in response to Jiayi's flirting and the gang's teasing. "I don't think you'll have any problems."

* * *

Over the course of the next few days, the gang slowly realized Jiayi's affinity for harmless flirting. Given her already exceedingly playful nature, however, it wasn't really a surprise to anyone how easily the friendly winks and flirty grins came to her. It made them even prouder to call her their best friend; plus it provided for highly amusing entertainment whenever Cheng was around to witness it—which was all the time. Jiayi never bothered when her easily-angered best friend wasn't around.

Over the course of the next few days, Jiayi explored the new power she held in her hands. She decided that she liked the harmless flirting—it was fun, plus it wasn't too out of character for her at all. She was by no means a boy magnet even with her winks and smiles, but she realized, much to her delight, that it didn't matter. Just the act of flirting alone was enough to send Cheng into an impressive imitation of a fire-breathing dragon. Any worries and doubts she had before were gone within the first day; she was confident she was going to win. It was only a matter of time.

Over the course of the next few days, Cheng discovered just how irritating Jiayi could be. Of course, he knew better than anyone how playful and annoyingly teasing Jiayi naturally was, and it annoyed him that she was revealing more and more of her bold playfulness to others. Why was she winking? Why was she grinning like that? Did she _want_ him to get arrested for attempted homicide? Jealous? No, he wasn't jealous—this was perfectly reasonable protectiveness. After all, Jiayi was the only girl of the group, her youth second only to Qing. In addition to that, she was his best friend; he had a duty to watch over her and protect her from sleazy, no-good, disgusting boys who didn't deserve her. Therefore, he would tough this out until she tired of her foolishness. Whenever that was.

* * *

The breaking point for Cheng came a mere six days after their bet began.

"Hey, Jiayi!" a boy called out one day as Jiayi and her friends were gathering their things to go home. He tossed a pencil over, which Jiayi caught perfectly. "Thanks for letting me borrow it today."

"No problem," Jiayi responded, flashing her usual, casual smile. Beside her, Cheng twitched.

"Can you stop doing that?" he growled.

Jiayi's eyebrows shot up at the hostility in his voice, and she exchanged a glance with Qing and Liang. "Doing what?"

"The flirting," Cheng hissed, leading the way through the halls. "At least save it for people we don't know and would never see again. Don't do it to our classmates!"

"Calm down," Jiayi said, smirking in amusement. Qing and Liang snickered behind them. "I wasn't even doing anything that time."

Cheng heaved a heavy sigh, running a hand down his face. She was right; he knew her well enough to know which smiles were casual and which ones were special. Six days of feeling his blood boil at the sight of Jiayi flirting with strangers had shot his nerves worse than he'd thought.

"Someone's getting paranoid," Liang remarked offhandedly.

"Shut up," Cheng snapped.

Qing giggled. "Cheng wants Jiayi to save her special winks and smiles only for him."

"I said, _shut up_!" Cheng snarled, whacking Qing over the head. "Brats."

Jiayi and Liang laughed while Qing pouted, rubbing his head. Before any of them could say another word, however, a voice called out for their attention, sending a disgusted shudder down Cheng's spine in the process. They all turned to see, much to Cheng's displeasure, Jun jogging towards them, dazzling smile and all.

Jiayi smiled. "Hey, Jun."

Jun eyed Cheng cautiously for a moment before gesturing for Jiayi to step aside again. Liang, Qing, and Cheng stood their ground patiently, making it clear that whatever Jun had to say to Jiayi, he could say it where they could see him. Cheng especially watched him carefully.

"What's up?" Jiayi asked, ignoring how her friends were all watching her protectively.

Jun scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, since we never got to go see that movie, I was wondering if you wanted to grab a snack today."

Unnoticed to everyone else, Cheng's fists clenched.

Jiayi shifted her weight uncomfortably, an apologetic smile emerging on her face. "Uh, I don't know—"

"We could get ice cream or something," Jun cut in hopefully.

"I'm sorry," Jiayi said softly with that same sweet, apologetic smile. Cheng's form relaxed a little. "But—"

"It'll be my treat," Jun interrupted again. "I—"

Cheng couldn't handle it anymore.

"Hey!" he barked, striding forward. Just as Jun turned toward him, Cheng's fist flew out, colliding solidly with Jun's jaw. The other boy fell back, landing on the floor with a yelp. Cheng glared down at him. "She said no, so back off."

Without waiting for a response, he grabbed Jiayi's wrist with one hand, turned to Liang and Qing and pointed down the hall. "We're going. Move."

Silently, though with triumphantly smug smirks, Qing and Liang parted for Cheng to pass between them before following behind him. As they walked, Cheng sighed exasperatedly.

"You win," they heard him mutter almost inaudibly.

Jiayi's smirk couldn't have been wider. She cupped her free hand around her ear. "Sorry, what was that?"

"You," Cheng ground out louder through gritted teeth, "win."

Jiayi hummed her approval, perfectly aware of the discreet high-five Liang and Qing exchanged behind them. "Don't forget the deal."

By then, they'd just stepped out into the courtyard and could clearly see their upperclassmen friends hanging out beneath their favorite tree. Patting Jiayi on the back, Liang and Qing took off towards their friends, leaving Jiayi and Cheng stil standing by the door.

Cheng sighed, pulling Jiayi to the side so they weren't blocking the door. Once clear from the doorway, he released her wrist and crossed his arms, pinning her with a glare. "Yeah I know. So what do you want?"

An unbelievably wide grin overtook her face. Clasping her hands behind her back, she cheekily stated, "I want you to take me on a date."

Cheng stared at her as if she'd spoken her request in gibberish. Her request was just ridiculous, unfathomable, crazy—but if that were the case, why was his stomach twisting like that? NO—it didn't matter. They were best friends; how could he just throw away that friendship, built and strengthened over the years, so carelessly? Things would change, become awkward, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to handle it if they ever screwed up their friendship.

He opened his mouth to voice his disapproval, his protests, but he couldn't bring himself to say his thoughts.

She was smiling at him so brightly, so hopefully, so damn happily. What kind of best friend would he be if he denied her the thing that made her smile that beautifully?

"A-alright," he ended up saying. "I-I guess I'll text you tonight to talk about when and where."

"Awesome!" Jiayi cheered, her face lighting up even more magnificently than before. She hopped forward, wrapping Cheng in a tight hug and hopping back again before he even realized it. "Sounds good! Don't worry; this time, we can split the bill."

With that, she gave him one of the flirty winks she'd perfected over the days and bounded off to join their friends, who were beside themselves with laughter. They all jumped up as she approached, evidently grilling her for details on what happened. Judging by their proud, exuberant, happy reactions, Cheng surmised that they'd all known about Jiayi's plan.

With an exasperated sigh, Cheng shook his head amusedly and walked towards them as well.

As he neared, Feng and Xiang looked up with proud and smug grins, Zhuang and Liang shot him teasing smirks, and Qing just looked excited and hyperactive. Knowing he was in for even more teasing than usual, Cheng mentally sighed again. Was it worth it? Was it too late to demand for Jiayi to change her request?

But then Jiayi looked over at him, still smiling that happy grin that rivaled the sun's brilliance on her pretty face.

And with that grin, Cheng's doubts and bitter second thoughts melted away. He rolled his eyes, throwing a casual grin back.

If it made Jiayi smile like that, Cheng would withstand his friends' torturous teasing.

Ah, screw it.

If it made Jiayi smile like that, Cheng thought maybe he could withstand anything.

* * *

**MHJ:** Is the end fluffy or what? :3 Luckily for you guys, this is just the beginning of the fluff. There is sooooo much more to come lol! Everyone, keep an eye out for chapter 15! I haven't written it yet, but I know you guys are gonna love it! ;)

To upload chapter 13, I need **20 reviews**! (Yeah, I know it's a lot. Seriously, you guys have been _whizzing _through the quotas and making me update on consecutive days lol. I need to buy myself some time to get ahead of the chapters xD I'm hoping to finish chapter 15 by the time I upload chapter 13 :D) Okay, seeya guys! ^_^


	13. The First Date

**MHJ:** Sorry for the lateness guys! You guys reached the quota about two days ago, but I've been in New York for the past like 4 days, visiting colleges and family, so I haven't had the time to upload the latest chapter. But 2 days is okay right? :) Anyways, I just got home today, made a few last-minute edits and additions to the chapter, and I believe it is finally time to upload Jiayi and Cheng's first date!

But first, I would like to mention that last chapter's quota was purposefully high so that it would take you guys a long time to complete it. That's because, like I said in the previous chapter, I needed time to finish writing. Oh and **_PLEASE READ AND ANSWER THE QUESTION AT THE BOTTOM! IT'S IMPORTANT!_**

* * *

_Previously..._

_An unbelievably wide grin overtook her face. Clasping her hands behind her back, she cheekily stated, "I want you to take me on a date."_

_Cheng stared at her as if she'd spoken her request in gibberish. Her request was just ridiculous, unfathomable, crazy—but if that were the case, why was his stomach twisting like that? NO—it didn't matter. They were best friends; how could he just throw away that friendship, built and strengthened over the years, so carelessly? Things would change, become awkward, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to handle it if they ever screwed up their friendship._

_He opened his mouth to voice his disapproval, his protests, but he couldn't bring himself to say his thoughts._

_She was smiling at him so brightly, so hopefully, so damn happily. What kind of best friend would he be if he denied her the thing that made her smile that beautifully?_

_"A-alright," he ended up saying. "I-I guess I'll text you tonight to talk about when and where."_

_"Awesome!" Jiayi cheered, her face lighting up even more magnificently than before. She hopped forward, wrapping Cheng in a tight hug and hopping back again before he even realized it. "Sounds good! Don't worry; this time, we can split the bill."_

_With that, she gave him one of the flirty winks she'd perfected over the days and bounded off to join their friends, who were beside themselves with laughter. They all jumped up as she approached, evidently grilling her for details on what happened. Judging by their proud, exuberant, happy reactions, Cheng surmised that they'd all known about Jiayi's plan._

_With an exasperated sigh, Cheng shook his head amusedly and walked towards them as well._

_As he neared, Feng and Xiang looked up with proud and smug grins, Zhuang and Liang shot him teasing smirks, and Qing just looked excited and hyperactive. Knowing he was in for even more teasing than usual, Cheng mentally sighed again. Was it worth it? Was it too late to demand for Jiayi to change her request?_

_But then Jiayi looked over at him, still smiling that happy grin that rivaled the sun's brilliance on her pretty face._

_And with that grin, Cheng's doubts and bitter second thoughts melted away. He rolled his eyes, throwing a casual grin back._

_If it made Jiayi smile like that, Cheng would withstand his friends' torturous teasing._

_Ah, screw it._

_If it made Jiayi smile like that, Cheng thought maybe he could withstand anything._

Chapter 13

"Yo, you ready to go yet?" Cheng asked, walking into Jiayi's room after her mom let him into the house.

Jiayi was standing by her desk, counting out a few bills from her wallet. For their date, she had donned a fitted white graphic tee with an inky Chinese character artistically splashed across the front and a pair of distressed denim shorts, embellished with rhinestones on the pockets.

She looked up when he walked in and smiled; folding the bills neatly, she stuck them into a little pocket on her childishly cute cell phone pouch, which she then slung across her chest. "Hey, Cheng. Almost, I just need to go put up my hair and we can go."

Cheng yawned, collapsing back onto Jiayi's bed. "Yeah, yeah, hurry up."

"Wait here then," Jiayi chirped, running out of the room towards the bathroom down the hall.

Meanwhile, Cheng looked around Jiayi's room fondly. He loved her room; the gang had always unanimously agreed that her room had the best calming effect out of all of their rooms.

The walls and ceiling were all midnight blue, so dark that they bordered on black. A dark mahogany desk sat in the corner with a sleek black laptop and various cute stationary tools scattered on the top; next to the desk was the canopy bed Cheng was laying on—it was large and firm with majestic navy blue drapes. The window shades were usually drawn since the room would always get unbearably hot when the sun shone in; the lights in the ceiling, disguised as stars, could be brightened or dimmed, but Jiayi usually kept them dim.

Turning his head to look at the nightstand beside Jiayi's bed, Cheng smiled at the framed picture sitting proudly beside the alarm clock. It was a picture of the gang—all of them with their arms thrown around each other's shoulders and wearing grins that stretched from ear to ear.

It still struck him as funny how most people automatically assumed he was the leader of the gang; in actuality, they were just an average group of friends. Everyone was equal; they shared decisions and responsibilities and made up for each other's weaknesses. Together, they covered a wide spectrum of talents.

Liang was the genius of the group, always top of the class and the first person many of their classmates turned to for academic help.

Xiang practically specialized in the fine arts, excelling not only in drawing and painting but also in music, both instrumental and vocal. At one point in the past, a mere year ago, he had even tutored Meiying in violin.

Feng was the tall athlete, annoyingly good at nearly every sport yet frustratingly uninterested in trying out for any high school teams.

Zhuang and Qing were both just ridiculously likeable, which was great especially when they needed favors from people. Qing was small, childlike, innocent, naïve—so cute that it was hard to deny him what he wanted. Zhuang, on the other hand, looked more mature yet was likeable for his playfulness and teasing charisma.

Jiayi was quick and sharp with not only words but also with her fingers. Due to her impressive ability to pick locks and her annoying habit of jokingly picking her friends' pockets, Cheng always had a feeling that she would probably make a great surgeon someday with her scary ability to work nimbly and steadily with small, precise movements. Then again, he feared putting lives into her hands.

Cheng, unlike the others, nurtured nothing more than a love for kung fu. No, it wasn't even love. They all loved kung fu, but for Cheng, it was a passion, something he could focus his life on.

'_We're such a family of goofballs_,' Cheng thought fondly. '_Feng and Xiang are the older brothers who watch out for us, Zhuang's the middle child who always tries to deny his affection for the others, Qing's the little brother everyone adores, Jiayi and Liang are the twins who can practically read each other's minds, and I'm…_'

He stopped, brow furrowing. He wasn't sure what he fit in as.

Suddenly, Jiayi pranced back into the room, her long hair gathered up in a high ponytail and secured by a white ribbon, the ends of which intermingled with her raven black locks. "Okay, I'm ready!" Spotting Cheng staring at the picture frame by her bed, she grinned and danced over, flopping down beside him. "Amazing how long we've all known each other, eh?"

"You know what's even more amazing?" Cheng replied. "How you're not even my oldest friend yet my stupid, foolish mind blindly insists on calling you my best friend."

"You know what's even weirder than that?" Jiayi giggled. "Liang and I hated you and the others at first, remember? Well, not so much the others, but we hated you."

Cheng shot her a dubious look. "Stop twisting the truth. I never had any problems with Liang."

"Alright, alright, only I hated you," Jiayi said, pouting. "But that was when we were, what, nine?"

Cheng nodded, chuckling at the memory. "Yeah, it wasn't until you beat me at the tournament finals that year that we agreed to be friends."

"And we totally hit it off and became best friends by the time we were ten!" Jiayi chirped. "Yay, happy ending! Can we go out to eat now?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Cheng laughed, sitting up and following Jiayi downstairs to the front door. As he put on his shoes, he noticed that Jiayi, instead of grabbing her usual converse sneakers, had picked out a nicer pair of sandals.

When she straightened up and saw him watching her, she grinned and winked, giggling. "Done checking me out?"

"I was not!" he snapped, rolling his eyes as she laughed. He gestured towards her as a whole. "You're really going for that dressed-up look, eh? You don't have to change so much."

Jiayi grinned before ushering Cheng out the door, closing the front door behind them. "Relax, Cheng. I told you, it's surprisingly fun to pick out outfits like this. I'm not changing or anything. I'm just incorporating a few nice things at a time."

"I guess," Cheng said, starting to head down the street with Jiayi.

They were walking in comfortable silence, when a thought suddenly occurred to Cheng.

"So," he started cautiously, glancing at Jiayi from the corner of his eyes. "How long have you liked me?"

The faintest of blushes rose to her cheeks. She shrugged her shoulders, a helpless smile appearing on her face. "I don't know."

"Fine, be that way," Cheng huffed.

There was a moment of silence before Jiayi softly asked, "Does it bother you?"

Strangely enough, it didn't.

"I mean," Jiayi rambled on, bringing her hands together in front of her as she walked. Her fingers pulled at each other nervously. "We're best friends after all. I didn't really think all of this through before, but I'd imagine this might make our friendship weird—"

"Nah," Cheng cut in, sighing as he took one of Jiayi's hands so that she would stop fiddling with her fingers. "It doesn't bother me."

A small, relieved smile appeared on Jiayi's face. "That's good."

They continued in silence again, but this time with their hands linked between them. As they got closer to the restaurant they'd decided to eat at, Jiayi spotted a couple across the street, giggling to each other. Swift as a little sparrow, the girl suddenly leaned up on her tiptoes and pressed a small kiss to the boy's lips. Then, smiling, the two linked hands and continued their stroll down the street. After seeing their cute exchange, Jiayi's eyes lit up playfully.

"Hey Cheng?"

"Yeah?" Cheng responded casually, busy scanning the street for the restaurant they'd picked. Thus, he missed the rather mischievous look on Jiayi's face.

"Do you want a kiss?"

"_What_?" Cheng's head whipped around to face Jiayi so fast that his neck cracked. He stared at Jiayi, bewildered yet unsurprised, excited yet disgusted.

Jiayi grinned coyly. "Don't be shy. You know you want one." With that, she leaned in ever so slightly.

Face flushed red, Cheng leaned slightly away, beginning to sputter an incoherent string of words. Before he could gather his scattered thoughts in his fried brain to think of a logical way to address the situation, Jiayi suddenly laughed. She then lifted her free hand, placing the tip of her index finger to his lips with a wide, teasing grin. He stopped mid-stutter.

"I'm kidding!" she giggled. "Relax a little, okay?"

He couldn't really think straight when her finger was on his lips, but he was somewhat aware that they'd stopped walking. Absentmindedly, he wondered if he should be mad at her and decided, not even a second after that thought, that yes, he _should_ be mad at her. Then he realized in a panic that Jiayi's pretty face was getting closer. She was leaning towards him, and as the space between them decreased, Cheng's heart rate sped up.

Jiayi stopped a few inches away from Cheng's face, lips curling into a predatory smirk.

Uh oh.

"You look mighty red, Cheng."

With that, she sprang back, laughing so hard that her eyes teared up. "Sorry, I just couldn't resist. The look on your face! You should've seen it!"

Cheng gaped at her, open-mouthed at her dirty trick just after he'd been nice enough to take her hand and reassure her and everything. He gritted his teeth, eyes blind to everything but that confident, heavily amused, _annoying_ smirk of hers. Though she'd forced herself to calm down from her laughing fit, her eyes were still glittering with the laughter that she held inside, her shoulders shaking from the effort of holding her giggles in.

She was such a tease, never passing up an opportunity to make him flustered and always reveling in his awkward discomfort.

He clenched his fists, knowing she was perfectly capable of dodging or defending against any punch he threw at her. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him and a wicked gleam appeared in his eyes. Time to give her a taste of her own medicine.

She was saying something again when he made his move; he wasn't sure exactly what she was saying, having drowned out her voice in his anger, but it didn't matter—she abruptly cut herself off mid-sentence after he suddenly shortened the gap between them.

Taken off-guard, she stepped back, pressing unexpectedly against the wall of a building in an attempt to restore the space between them. He moved forward as she moved back, ensuring their close proximity.

The laughing amusement in her eyes quickly vaporized when he leaned forward, trapping her against the wall with a hand on either side of her head. Around them, people continued their own business, paying no mind to the two teenagers at all.

"What are you doing?" Jiayi demanded, eyes flickering around uncomfortably. She couldn't meet his gaze for more than a few seconds when he was inches from her face.

Cheng smirked and leaned closer, reducing the space between their faces to a mere inch or two. She inhaled sharply, red quickly coloring her cheeks. If possible, she tried to shrink back even more, flattening herself against the wall in an effort to restore some distance. He simply moved closer, almost pressed up against her. "What's the matter?"

"T-this isn't funny," she stammered, glaring intensely straight ahead at his neck. "M-m-move or I'll beat you up."

"At least look the person you're threatening in the eyes," Cheng chastised teasingly, moving one of his hands to her chin. Casually, he tilted her head up so that her eyes could meet his. Subtly, she gulped, eyes flickering away nervously. In the back of his mind, Cheng laughed uncontrollably. Now that he knew teasing her was this much fun, he could hardly blame her anymore for always teasing him. "How's it feel to be on the receiving end for once?"

She glared at him.

"I am seriously going to hurt you," she growled through gritted teeth, blushing furiously.

"It would be in your best interest if you didn't," Cheng said, smirking as he pulled away, giving her space to breathe. "How could you hurt this pretty face that you love so much?"

Jiayi's eyes narrowed at him. "I am _so_ getting you back for this."

Cheng laughed, taking her hand again and leading her, still pouting, down the street. "What's the matter? Can't take what you dish out? Maybe now you'll think twice about making fun of me all the time."

"We'll see," Jiayi replied curtly, still scowling and making it clear that she was very annoyed.

"Here's the restaurant," Cheng said, ignoring her words and pulling her through the doors of a noodle restaurant.

The noodle restaurant, though small, was clearly quite popular with many tables already filled. Wooden tables were squished into the little room quite cozily with just enough space between them for the waiters and waitresses to maneuver around with their platters of food. Large watercolor landscapes stretched along the walls, and the sweet trill of a flute played softly in the background, accompanied by the customers' small talk and occasional loud booms of laughter.

"Two," Cheng told a nearby waiter, who nodded and led them to a small table at the side of the room.

Seated across the table from each other, Jiayi glared at Cheng, who ignored her as he calmly scanned his menu card. After a moment, he casually asked without looking up, "Know what you're getting?"

Breaking her glare at Cheng, Jiayi looked down and picked up her own menu. Glancing over the dishes the restaurant offered, she suppressed a shudder. "I still don't know how you managed to get me to come to a noodle shop."

"Well," Cheng said, smirking. "If you're going to make me go on a date with you, then we should at least go to a restaurant that _I_ like. Besides, you need to get over this ridiculous fear of noodles. It's seriously tiring."

Jiayi sighed. "Too late to change restaurants now, I guess."

At that moment, the waiter, a rather attractive young man, approached their table with two glasses of water and a little notepad. Cheng nodded in appreciation as his water was placed onto the table, reaching out for it almost immediately to take a sip. Jiayi, on the other hand, reached up to take her water from the waiter himself, letting her fingers brush his in the process.

"Thank you," she said with a flirty grin.

The waiter grinned back, clicking his pen and positioning it on his little notepad. "Can I take your orders?"

"Yeah, I'll have number sixteen," Jiayi said sweetly. She jabbed a finger across the table at a sour-looking Cheng. "He'll have..."

"Twelve," Cheng finished, glaring at the waiter.

The waiter nodded, seeming only to have eyes for Jiayi. "Your food will be ready shortly."

"Thanks," Jiayi said again.

Cheng's grip on his glass of water tightened in annoyance when the waiter had the guts to wink at Jiayi right in front of him. The moment the waiter was out of earshot, he sent Jiayi the most withering glare he could.

"I thought we were done with all of that!" he hissed, eye twitching in annoyance.

Jiayi gave him an innocent look as she took a sip of her water. "With what?"

"The flirting," Cheng growled, crossing his arms.

"Oh," Jiayi exclaimed as if realizing his meaning for the first time. She smiled smugly. "That was payback."

Cheng stared at her incredulously before scoffing in annoyance. "You're unbelievable."

In response to that, Jiayi teasingly blew Cheng a kiss before changing the subject. "So, after this, we'll be going to your house to watch a movie, right?"

Cheng nodded. "Yeah. Unlike Jun, I picked out a cool action movie for us to watch. None of that gooey chick flick stuff he offered you."

At that, Jiayi burst out laughing. "Whoa, Cheng, cut back a little on the bitterness there."

"Wh—_bitter_? I was _not_ being bitter."

"Yeah, you were. Wow, you must have been more jealous than I thought you were."

"_I wasn't jealous!_"

"If you weren't jealous, we wouldn't be on this date right now."

"…"

Jiayi smiled and reached over to pat the back of Cheng's hand. "Don't worry, I'll pay my half of the bill."

Cheng rolled his eyes. "Shut up. Isn't the guy supposed to pay for everything on the first date?" He waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it; I've got this covered."

"Really?" Jiayi squeaked excitedly, eyes flashing.

"Don't get used to it though," Cheng warned.

Jiayi laughed, nodding. "I'll pay next time then."

_Next time…_

They realized at the same time that a second date wasn't guaranteed. Cheng coughed awkwardly, averting his eyes, while Jiayi—suddenly sobered up from her cheery high—silently reached for her water glass again to take another sip.

Luckily, just then, the waiter came by with their orders.

"Number twelve," he set down Cheng's bowl of lo mein without bothering to look at him. Then, to Jiayi, he grinned and set down her bowl of beef noodle broth. "And number sixteen for the lovely lady."

While Jiayi looked immensely pleased with the compliment, Cheng bit back his annoyance.

"Yes, thank you, you can go now," Cheng said curtly, gesturing for the young man to leave. The waiter bristled at his tone, but since Cheng was a customer, he merely smiled before walking away back towards the kitchens. Jiayi stifled a laugh while Cheng nonchalantly reached for a pair of chopsticks as if nothing had happened.

"My, my, Cheng," Jiayi mused, reaching for her own pair of chopsticks. "No need to be so aggressive; you can't blame that waiter for recognizing true beauty." She batted her eyelashes playfully.

Breaking apart his pair of wooden chopsticks, Cheng looked up and, instead of addressing Jiayi's teasing, asked, "Hey, if you wanted me to lose the bet so badly, why didn't you just flirt back with Jun? Or just go out with him?"

Jiayi blinked at him owlishly. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, wouldn't that have been a lot more," Cheng paused, searching for the right word to use. "Effective?" He paused again. "Come to think of it, you didn't flirt with anyone we personally knew."

A small unreadable smile appeared on Jiayi's face, and she looked down at her steaming bowl of noodles, stirring the broth slowly. "It's cruel to play with someone's feelings just to get someone else jealous."

Cheng stared at her, slowly beginning to smile as he felt a surge of respect tear through him. He turned his gaze down to his food as well. "That's actually pretty decent of you."

"I guess," Jiayi murmured, still smiling. "Not really though. I mean, you of all people should know how it feels when someone you like or are attracted to only looks at someone else."

Immediately, Meiying came to mind, and for a moment, he couldn't help but imagine what it would have been like if it was Meiying sitting across from him with a bowl of beef noodle broth in front of her. Awkward, definitely—he didn't know the first thing they would talk about. Conversation would have been tense and uncomfortable and vague. All Cheng knew about Meiying was that she loved violin and aspired to be accepted into the Beijing Academy of Music, and all Meiying knew about Cheng—or _thought_ she knew—was that he loved kung fu and liked to beat people up to prove he was the best of the best. Yes, it would have been very awkward indeed.

For the first time that night, Cheng felt glad that it had been Jiayi who'd roped him into a date.

Suddenly, Cheng was pulled out of his thoughts by Jiayi's voice.

"Ugh, just looking at this makes me feel a little queasy," she was saying, playing with her white rice noodles with her chopsticks. She glanced over at Cheng's noodles, light brown in color. "Your's makes me feel downright nauseous." She pushed away her bowl, leaning her forehead against her knuckles. "I don't think I can do this."

Cheng sighed, pushing her bowl back towards her. "Yes, you can. At least your noodles are white. That's not exactly the color of worms, right?"

"_Your_ noodles are the color of worms," she grumbled back.

"Yeah, maybe it wasn't the best idea to get this dish," Cheng lamented. "But it's too late now. Just keep your eyes on either your noodles or on me. Don't look at my food, alright? Think you can make it through dinner?"

"Not really," Jiayi responded, but she picked up her chopsticks again nevertheless. She tasted the soup first, a satisfied smile forming. "Not bad."

Cheng grinned triumphantly. "Finally done with your noodle phobia?"

"Getting there," Jiayi responded, keeping her eyes locked firmly on her bowl.

* * *

Slowly, the conversation drifted over the next hour, ranging over food and life and the gang. It wasn't until the end of their dinner, when Cheng was laying down his money for the bill, that he realized something crucial that he had overlooked.

_An unreadable smile appeared on Jiayi's face, and she looked down at the food. "It's cruel to play with someone's feelings just to get someone else jealous."_

_Cheng stared at her, slowly beginning to smile as he felt a surge of respect tear through him. He turned his gaze down to the food as well. "That's actually pretty decent of you."_

_"I guess," Jiayi murmured, still smiling. "Not really though. I mean, you of all people should know how it feels when someone you like or are attracted to only looks at another person."_

How cruel was _he_ to completely forget Jiayi's situation.

"Jiayi," he murmured as they left the restaurant. She looked over at him, completely untroubled. The fact that she wasn't even hurt or mad that he had overlooked her feelings earlier just made the pit in his stomach feel heavier with guilt. "I'm sorry."

"About what?" she asked, bemused.

He looked down slightly. "You've liked me all this time, and I never even looked away from Meiying. How…how could you stand me? How can you still like me? How did I _not notice_? I'm such a...suckish best friend."

He would have continued beating himself up verbally, but Jiayi reached out and took his hand again.

"It's okay." She was smiling contentedly. "I'm glad I got to go on this date with you at least. It's okay if there's no second one, 'cause we'd still be best friends, right? I'll be happy with whatever decision makes you happy."

Touched that his best friend was dedicated to him enough that she would put his happiness above her own, Cheng remained silent for a moment before he scoffed, smiling. Wiggling Jiayi's grip loose, he readjusted his hand and laced his fingers together with hers, smile widening when she looked down to stare at their interlocked hands. "Don't be ridiculous. Of course there'll be a second date. I still need my revenge for having to pay for you all the time, right?"

"Right," Jiayi said after a moment. Then she beamed and squeezed Cheng's hand. "So, an action movie, right?"

"Naturally," Cheng responded as the conversation moved back onto safer waters.

* * *

**MHJ:** Back during the beginning when Cheng was musing about the gang's talents, I said that he didn't just love kung fu like the others did, he had a burning _passion_ for it because he's on the Beijing Wushu Team and all. xD Anyways, I hope this chapter had enough fluff in it for you lol. In terms of fluff, though, I _really suggest_ you keep your eyes peeled for chapter 15. Hint: (please avert your eyes if you wish to be surprised) It's gonna be a milestone in Cheng and Jiayi's budding relationship teehee~

Before we part ways, I have a question for you all: **What are your thoughts on Dre and Jiayi's relationship? Meaning: would you like to see them become friends?**

Okay, next quota: you guys must hit at least 15 reviews for me to upload the next chapter. :) See you guys later~~


	14. The Wudang Mountains

**MHJ:** Guys. I am not even kidding. I was DYING as I wrote chapter 15. The ending of that chapter...OMG JUST THINKING ABOUT IT MAKES ME WANT TO SQUEAL LIKE A FANGIRL XD You guys are going to LOVE it sooooo much :D:D:D Seriously...omg it's going to be my favorite chapter BY FAR once I publish it. While I was writing it, I felt like I was on a sugar rush or something lol. When I ranted on how fluffy it was to Extreana (my fanfic pal who's also my bff in real life), she was like "Lol so writing fluff is basically like getting high for writers?" and I was like O.O WAIT YES THAT IS SO TRUE LOLOLOL. Just to give you guys an idea of how fluffy chapter 15 is. :) **Fluffiest by far for sure.** Lol, I'm totally torturing you guys by telling you, aren't I? xD

By the way, this chapter is sort of like a filler chapter. Soooo Cheng isn't even going to make an appearance lol. Sorry to the folks who were expecting more fluff, but I _promise_ chapter 15 will make up for it! :3

Oh, and in terms of the question I asked last chapter, I think some of you misunderstood me. When I said friends, I meant more like _semi-friends_. But anyways, I have the idea I was working on completely figured out now. Thank you everyone for your input! :)

**READ THE QUESTION AT THE END. IT'S ALSO VERY IMPORTANT.**

* * *

_Previously..._

_He would have continued beating himself up verbally, but Jiayi reached out and took his hand again._

_"It's okay." She was smiling contentedly. "I'm glad I got to go on this date with you at least. It's okay if there's no second one, 'cause we'd still be best friends, right? I'll be happy with whatever decision makes you happy."_

_Touched that his best friend was dedicated to him enough that she would put his happiness above her own, Cheng remained silent for a moment before he scoffed, smiling. Wiggling Jiayi's grip loose, he readjusted his hand and laced his fingers together with hers, smile widening when she looked down to stare at their interlocked hands. "Don't be ridiculous. Of course there'll be a second date. I still need my revenge for having to pay for you all the time, right?"_

_"Right," Jiayi said after a moment. Then she beamed and squeezed Cheng's hand. "So, an action movie, right?"_

_"Naturally," Cheng responded as the conversation moved back onto safer waters._

Chapter 14

They were still in the car when Jiayi stirred from her slumber, stretching with a loud yawn as she opened her sleepy eyes.

"Morning, sleepyhead," her father said from the driver's seat.

"We're not there yet?" Jiayi mumbled groggily, slowly becoming more awake and alert.

"Almost. Just another few minutes. You might as well wake Qing up too."

"Okay," Jiayi said, glancing at the sleeping boy in the seat next to her. She grabbed his shoulder and shook him. "Hey, Qing. Wake up."

With a long yawn, Qing woke up, blinking his bleary eyes repeatedly. Sitting up straighter, he stretched his arms. "We're at the Wudang Mountains?"

"Almost," Jiayi responded, looking out the window. It was still morning with a few hours until noon—which was good because Jiayi and Qing wanted to get as much as they could out of their visit to the mountains. Outside, beautiful greenery rolled by—mountains and trees and shrubbery growing on the banks of rivers.

"Finally, it's our turn to train at the temple," Qing said. "Figures that we, the youngest, would be last, eh?"

Jiayi scoffed. "Yeah, I know, right? I mean, I get why Cheng and Liang got to go first, but it's totally just age bias how Feng, Xiang, and Zhuang got to go second."

"Be fair, you two. That's just how it is," Jiayi's dad cut in amusedly. "You guys are lucky Cheng's parents have so many connections in the kung fu world."

"Yeah," Qing and Jiayi laughed.

As Cheng requested, Cheng's parents had organized for him and his friends to receive a little training from a few of the kung fu practitioners who frequented the Wudang Mountains' temple. To be more easily handled, the gang—seven members large—had split off into three groups, and it was finally Qing and Jiayi's turn.

"Hey! I can see the temple!" Qing suddenly cried excitedly.

"Yup, we're there," Jiayi's dad replied, stopping the car at the edge of the road where a cement staircase melted into the road pavement. From there, the temple was a short walk down the stairs, through the square, and up the steep, towering mountain. "Have fun, kids! Qing, your dad will pick you guys up. Just give him a call when you two have had your fill."

"Okay!" Qing cheered, leaping out of the car.

Jiayi quickly pecked her father's cheek. "Thanks Dad!"

With that, the kids were off.

Qing nudged Jiayi, looking mischievous. "Okay, we've ditched your dad. Now tell me how the date went!"

"It went pretty well," Jiayi snickered as they wove around the different civilians mulling around the square. "First, we went to a restaurant. Somehow, he managed to convince me to go to a noodle shop, and I am proud to say that I can eat non-brown noodles now!" At Qing's shocked look, she chuckled. "Yeah, shocking, right? Anyways, afterwards, we went to his house and watched Assassin."

"Haven't you already seen that with me and Xiang?" Qing asked amusedly.

Jiayi snickered. "Yeah, but Cheng didn't need to know that."

"Okay, now that the summary of your activities is done," Qing said, rolling his eyes, "tell me how the _date_ went. Like, how you guys interacted—was it awkward? It probably wasn't, right? I mean, you were practically just hanging out together without the rest of the gang around."

"It was just like hanging out," Jiayi agreed, nodding. She grinned. "But that doesn't mean we didn't have some romantic moments too."

"Tell me!"

"Okay, okay, calm down! Well, naturally there were lots of moments to tease him. Did you know it's possible for Cheng's face to physically look like a tomato? Not just red, but _red_ red."

Qing burst out laughing, and once he'd calmed down, Jiayi shot off on an enthusiastic recount of her date with Cheng, pausing at the right moments dramatically.

"Are you guys going to go on another date?" Qing asked excitedly when Jiayi finally finished her tale.

Jiayi nodded just as excitedly. "Yeah! I could hardly believe it when he said it; I mean, I still don't know if he likes me or not so—"

"Of course he does!" Qing exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "He likes you, you like him, end of story!"

"Save your breath, Qing," Jiayi laughed as they reached the stairs. "We're going to need all our strength to get up this mountain and train. Normally, I'd say 'let's race,' but it doesn't really seem like a good idea in this situation."

Qing looked up at the staircase, winding a clear path straight up the mountain, and winced. "Yeah, let's just pace ourselves nice and steadily."

* * *

Meanwhile, a certain dark-skinned boy felt his insides twist up at the sight of two Chinese teenagers far ahead by the foot of the staircase leading up the mountain. Even from where he was, still making his way across the square, he recognized them as Cheng's friends—Jiayi and…the boy's name was either Qing or Liang. He still wasn't sure.

Nevertheless, he was worried.

"**Mr. Han**," Dre hissed, nudging the old man. "**Cheng's friends are here.**"

The maintenance man followed Dre's pointed finger just in time to see the boy—Qing or Liang—throw his hands up in exasperation while Jiayi laughed. Then, the two teenagers started up the stairs.

"**No worry**," Mr. Han said after a moment. "**They promise to leave you alone, remember?**"

Dre eyed him doubtfully. "**Yeah, but _will_ they?**"

"**I believe so**," Mr. Han replied, nodding. They reached the staircase and, slowly, Mr. Han began to hobble up. "**Come on, we go up too.**"

Dre looked at the towering staircase and sighed insufferably. The things he did to earn respect…

* * *

"So what do you think Master Sun will be like?" Jiayi asked as she and Qing continued to trudge up the long staircase.

Qing grimaced. "Probably mean and cranky like Master Li. I can't imagine a kung fu master that's nice."

"Now that can't be true," Jiayi argued. "They can't _all_ be mean like Master Li. He's got to be a special case."

"Why do you think he's so mean anyway?"

"No clue. Maybe something horrible happened to him in the past."

"Or maybe he's just a nutjob."

"Or both."

Qing sighed. "Are we there yet?"

"Almost," Jiayi responded, pointing ahead. "Look, I can see the top of the stairs!"

"Finally," Qing muttered, sighing again. Slightly out of breath, the two fell silent as they climbed the last few steps to a small arched passageway, which opened to a larger space where rows of men and women in white robes practiced tai chi. Serenity rolled off of them in soothing waves as they calmly flowed through various movements slowly and steadily.

"Wow," Jiayi whispered, watching the practitioners move through their routine with beautiful grace and harmonious unison. "They put the Fighting Dragon to shame."

"I second that," Qing agreed. "I don't want to interrupt them to ask where Master Sun is."

"Me neither," Jiayi responded. She pointed across at a middle-aged man leaning against the balcony, staring out at the scenery peacefully. "How about we go ask that guy over there? He's not exactly doing anything, right?"

"Sounds good," Qing said, leading the way over. As they neared, Qing called out to the man. "Excuse me? Sorry to bother you, but we're looking for Master Sun. Do you know where he is?"

The man gazed at them calculatedly before smiling warmly. "Yes, he is in the back. I can bring you to him."

"Thank you," the two teenagers chorused, falling in step behind the man as he led them up around the temple complex.

"So," the man suddenly said after a while. "Is this your first visit to the Wudang Mountains?"

"No," Jiayi and Qing responded simultaneously.

"I see," the man said, nodding. "So you have both visited the Dragon Well?"

"Yeah," Qing answered, exchanging a grin with Jiayi, who added, "Water tasted fantastic, especially after climbing _that_ staircase for the first time."

The man chuckled. "Yeah, I believe that was my reaction too when I first came here." Stepping through another arched doorway leading to another large space, the man stepped aside and gestured to the space. "Master Sun told me that when two kids came by and asked for him to send them here and tell them to spar until he arrived. Have fun." With that, Jiayi and Qing stepped in while the man stepped back through the tall doorway.

Exchanging a glance with each other, Jiayi and Qing shrugged and moved out into the open space, bowing to each other before adopting stances. Jiayi initiated the fight with a kick aimed for Qing's head.

He countered it with a kick of his own.

"So we're just supposed to spar until Master Sun gets here? How long do you think that'll take?"

Jiayi shrugged as best as she could while blocking a punch. "Who knows? Hopefully not too long."

Qing sidestepped a kick and threw out a variety of lazy punches, all of which were cut off just as lazily by Jiayi. After a while, he sighed. "I'm still kind of tired from the climb."

"Same here," Jiayi admitted.

"Ah, so that's why your spar seems so void of passion."

Immediately, the two teenagers stopped their fight, turning to see the middle-aged man leaning in the doorway. He smiled. "Qing and Jiayi, I presume. I am Master Sun."

The two teenagers' jaws dropped and, instead of laughing off their embarrassment like Master Sun expected, they snapped upright, slammed their hands together in a sign of respect, and bowed low.

"Our apologies, sir," Qing said, embarrassed.

Jiayi followed up with, "We're usually a lot better than this."

"I understand," Master Sun said kindly, returning their sign of respect, much to their surprise. "It was probably a bit much of me to try to observe your current level just after your travel up here."

Qing nudged Jiayi, whispering, "He's a lot nicer than Master Li, don't you think?"

"Definitely," Jiayi whispered back. "I wish Master Li was this nice."

"We shall start with some more stationary training then," Master Sun continued, pretending not to hear their whispered conversation. "Tell me, can either of you do a split?"

* * *

Dre pouted as Mr. Han secured the rope loops around his wrists, attaching them to two long wooden poles. He could still picture the image of the woman, balanced so precariously yet so beautifully on that little stone protruding from the building, moving as one with the snake. It was the most amazing thing he had ever seen in his life. "**But I want to learn how to control people.**"

Mr. Han sighed. "**There's only one person you need to control.**"

Dre blinked. "**Who?**"

Rolling his eyes, Mr. Han moved one of the poles like a puppeteer, moving Dre's hand up to hit his own head. "**Empty your mind.**" Using the poles, the old man began to force Dre to mirror his actions. "**Flow with my movements. Connect with the energy around.**"

"**I kind of just want to learn the cobra thing,**" Dre protested as he marched forward half-heartedly with straight but lazy punches orchestrated by Mr. Han.

"**Cobra,**" the maintenance man replied, "**requires great focus.**"

"**But I have great focus!**"

If he looked back, Dre would have seen that Mr. Han was far from amused with his claim. Without warning, the man suddenly thrust both sticks forward, pitching Dre forward as well and leaving him dangling over the water.

"**Whoa!**" Dre yelped, finding himself parallel to and inches from the surface of the water. "**Oh my God…Mr. Han?**"

"**Your focus,**" the maintenance man said calmly, "**needs more focus.**"

Suddenly, the sound of laughter met their ears. Mr. Han turned his head to see where the noise was coming from while Dre just frowned down at the water. "**Mr. Han? Who's there? Who's laughing?**"

"**Fancy meeting you here, Parker!**" a girl's voice called.

"**Drop him, Mr. Han!**" a boy's voice laughed.

At the sound of the voices, Dre's blood ran cold. "**Mr. Han, pull me up _right now_.**"

The maintenance man did not argue and pulled the boy up, not even minding when Dre immediately pulled his wrists out of the pole's loops. He glared down the dock at Jiayi and the boy—Qing or Liang. They were sitting at the edge, dangling their legs into the water, still chuckling.

"**What are you two doing here?**" Dre snarled.

Jiayi arched a brow. "**Training. Like you.**"

Qing-Liang nodded, sticking out his tongue at him. "**Yeah, you don't own this temple.**"

Dre scowled and turned to Mr. Han, who was watching the confrontation silently. "**Come on, Mr. Han. Let's go train elsewhere.**"

"**Hey!**" Jiayi called out before they could leave. Dre turned to see her grinning predatorily. "**How is your training? Cheng is very excited for the tournament.**"

"**Oh yeah?**" Dre said, scowling. He made to step towards them, but Mr. Han cleared his throat.

"Remember," the maintenance man said sharply to Jiayi. "You are forbidden from bothering my student until the tournament."

"I was just making small talk," Jiayi shot back, but she backed down anyway.

Even though he didn't understand the short conversation, Dre understood enough just by their body language. Smirking proudly, he exclaimed, "**Hah! Not so tough against a challenge, eh?**"

"**Watch who you're talking to,**" Qing-Liang snarled while Jiayi glared at him.

She stood up, small wet feet leaving dark footprints on the dock. "**Fine, fight me then. Show how much stronger you are.**"

"**Xiao Dre,**" Mr. Han immediately cut in sharply. "**This is not a good idea.**"

"**You without your master, me without my friends,**" Jiayi continued. "**Qing won't interrupt, right?**"

The boy—apparently Qing, not Liang—nodded his head, still glaring at Dre.

"**Xiao Dre,**" Mr. Han reprimanded again, but Dre wasn't listening.

"**Sounds good to me**," he replied cockily. After all, now he had training and could defend against some of Mr. Han's attacks. He knew he wasn't strong enough to take on Cheng yet, but how hard could it be to take on a girl with such fragile-looking limbs? Dressed in a fitted t-shirt with a pair of short exercising shorts, she looked like a good, strong wind could knock her over.

Jiayi shifted into a stance, motioning for Dre to charge—and he did. He ran forward, throwing out a punch that Jiayi easily sidestepped. She did not retaliate, however. He scowled and began to throw out every move he could think of—punches, kicks, chops, thrusts. She dodged them all fluidly, dancing around him until he began to feel dizzy.

"**Too reckless, Parker,**" she reprimanded.

"**And what makes you a kung fu master?**" Dre snarled back.

"**I'm no master, but I've done kung fu for almost ten years now,**" Jiayi responded with a grin. She swatted away a punch like it was nothing. "**No focus, no power. Rage not good for battle, muddles the mind, makes person easy to read.**" With that, she whirled away from an amateur kick before sending out one of her own. Her bare foot landed on his chest neatly, sending him flying back into the water with a loud splash. When he surfaced, sputtering and coughing, she and Qing were nearly beside themselves with laughter.

"**You _did_ get better,**" Qing complimented with a grin.

Jiayi nodded. "**But not enough to beat Cheng. Better get back to training.**"

"Speaking of training, Jiayi," Qing said, reverting back to his native tongue. "We need to go meet Master Xian soon for our next training lesson."

"Yeah, we probably should," Jiayi said, frowning. "Do you remember where Master Sun said we would find her?"

"Somewhere on the higher levels," Qing replied.

"Master Xian was on the second level," Mr. Han suddenly said, hobbling over. Jiayi backed away back towards Qing as the old man took her spot and reached down to pull Dre out of the water. "Thank you for teaching my pupil a lesson."

Qing and Jiayi blinked.

"Uh, thanks," Qing said, exchanging a glance with Jiayi. "And...you're welcome?"

Mr. Han nodded, turning back to Dre. "**Jiayi is right. Rage not good for fighting. Learn to clear your mind. You wanted to learn cobra, right?**"

Dre sighed and nodded. "**Yeah, sorry Mr. Han.**"

During their exchange, Jiayi and Qing slipped away, holding their sneakers and socks in their hands as they waited for their feet to dry off.

"What do you think Mr. Han meant by cobra?" Jiayi asked.

Qing shrugged. "I don't know."

Suddenly a woman passed by, dressed in pristine white robes with a long pink scarf around her neck.

Jiayi's jaw dropped and she grabbed Qing's arm, pointing at the woman's back. "Dude, isn't that Michelle Yeoh?"

Qing blinked. "Whoa! It is! Oh my gosh, we just saw her in real life!"

"Cheng and the others are going to be so jealous," Jiayi exclaimed, grinning.

"Do you think we can talk to her?" Qing whispered.

The woman disappeared around the corner, and Jiayi shook her head. "Nah, we need to get going and find Master Xian. Come on."

* * *

**MHJ:** Sooooo the Michelle Yeoh part probably seemed kinda random to you guys, right? To those of you guys who don't know, Michelle Yeoh is a super cool kung fu actress. What I recognized her from was the move Hidden Dragon, Crouching Tiger—she's Yu Shu Lien, the main lady (the one who's in love with the guy and they're trying to get the sword back). So yeah, I thought it'd be fun if Qing and Jiayi recognized her xD

**IMPORTANT QUESTION:** What do you guys think of Meiying? Do you like/dislike/neutral her? I personally am neutral-leaning-more-on-anti-Meiying so I was wondering if you guys minded if Meiying seems not-so-nice. Please answer~

**Next Quota:** I'm gonna go for 15 again. :) Remember: the faster you guys hit the quota, the sooner I'll upload the SUPER-FLUFFY CHAPTER 15 XD Lol ttyl guys!


	15. When Our Lips Meet

**MHJ:** Okay guys! You guys didn't reach the quota, but right now I don't really care. I'm waaaayy too excited to upload this! xD It's finally time to show you chapter 15! ^_^

Btw did you guys know that apparently another Karate Kid movie might be coming out? :O A reviewer told me that today and I was like O.O WHAT! I swear, if they _do_ make that film, they better not give Cheng a love interest! X( Jiayi would be so sad if that happens!

Oh, and on my tumblr, I posted some pictures I found on Google. The first is of a younger Jiayi and Cheng (anime form ofc) and the second is Jiayi and Cheng (in chibi form). I drew a picture of Cheng, Qing, Liang, and Jiayi together (chibi form) and I will post that up too as soon as my friend Extreana finishes _her_ drawing. Alsooo I have a picture of Extreana cosplaying as Jiayi, but I won't release that until I get a few more of us cosplaying. Just thought I should let you guys know :)

* * *

_Previously..._

_Suddenly a woman passed by, dressed in pristine white robes with a long pink scarf around her neck._

_Jiayi's jaw dropped and she grabbed Qing's arm, pointing at the woman's back. "Dude, isn't that Michelle Yeoh?"_

_Qing blinked. "Whoa! It is! Oh my gosh, we just saw her in real life!"_

_"Cheng and the others are going to be so jealous," Jiayi exclaimed, grinning._

_"Do you think we can talk to her?" Qing whispered._

_The woman disappeared around the corner, and Jiayi shook her head. "Nah, we need to get going and find Master Xian. Come on."_

Chapter 15

Feng sighed, skulking dejectedly in his seat. "I can't believe you guys are really doing this to me."

Qing, Xiang, Zhuang, and Liang exchanged smug looks and snickered at their friend's misery.

"Cheer up, Feng," Qing said, nudging the sulking boy. "It's not the end of the world."

"Can't say the same for his relationship," Zhuang muttered in a poorly disguised cough.

Xiang slapped Zhuang over the head while Feng just groaned miserably. "Don't listen to this idiot, Feng. Biyu didn't even seem that upset."

"If anything," Liang added, "I'd say she was amused."

The five friends were currently in a local restaurant, seated at a large round table set for eight people.

"Yeah, Feng, stop being so huffy," an amused voice cut in. Biyu suddenly appeared behind Feng, dressed in a summery purple dress with white zig-zag stripes printed all over it. She bent over Feng's shoulder, pecking his cheek. "I don't mind."

Qing, Xiang, Zhuang, and Liang burst out into a symphony of "oohs" and "ahhs", much to Biyu's amusement and Feng's annoyance.

A rosy hue blossoming in his cheeks, Feng scowled at his so-called friends. "How did I let you guys talk me into this again?"

"We have Zhuang to thank for that," Liang said, grinning as he clapped Zhuang on the back.

Zhuang beamed triumphantly, but Xiang propped his head up on his hand. "Well, technically we should be thanking Cheng for it."

"Way to ruin my moment," Zhuang snapped, but he rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

"Speaking of those two," Biyu cut in, slipping into the seat on Feng's right. "Where are they?"

"Entering the restaurant right now," Qing answered, standing up to wave at someone at the restaurant's doors. They all turned to see a grinning Jiayi bounding toward them, an amused Cheng in tow.

"I see someone holding hands," Zhuang teased as they reached the table and took the last two empty seats.

Cheng scowled, whacking Zhuang upside the head. "Shut up. This outing is to tease Feng and Biyu, not us."

"Surely we can do both?" Biyu interjected amusedly. She leaned forward, head propped up by her knuckles. "You two look adorable together! Love your outfit, by the way."

Jiayi beamed. She was dressed in an oversized, thin light grey cardigan over a fitted navy blue racerback tank top with a pair of high-waisted white shorts. A silver necklace dangled on her neck, several rings ornamented her fingers, and a pair of oversized sunglasses sat atop her head like a crown.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed, immensely pleased. "Love your dress, too!"

"Enough with the girly talk," Zhuang cut in, rolling his eyes. "Let's get back to teasing Biyu and Feng, eh?"

"How did you guys talk me into this?" Feng cried. Biyu patted his shoulder sympathetically.

Jiayi grinned. "Zhuang can be a genius the few times he isn't an idiot."

"How did you even do it?" Qing asked curiously.

A huge grin broke out on Zhuang's face while a horrified grimace claimed Cheng's.

"It's the funniest thing ever!" Zhuang hooted. "All it took was a little blackmailing and Cheng was down on his knees, begging Feng to let us come."

"I was speechless," Feng said, rolling his eyes.

"What did you blackmail Cheng with?" Jiayi asked curiously.

Zhuang opened his mouth to respond, but Cheng clapped a hand over his mouth.

"He blackmailed me into it," Cheng cut in. "End of story."

Qing pouted. "Aw, come on, Cheng. You need to tell us the story."

"Unnecessary information," Cheng coughed.

"How exactly does Cheng begging on his knees—for whatever reason—correlate to you guys accompanying us this evening?" Biyu asked amusedly before a fight could break out..

"Well," Zhuang said. "It started way back when the Qi Xi Festival just ended."

_"Glad you two finally made up," Xiang said, grinning as Jiayi and Cheng approached the gang, one consumed in a fit of laughter while the other chuckled along more conservatively._

_"Naturally," Jiayi chirped cheerfully, coming to a stop as she and Cheng completed the circle. "You guys know Cheng can't live without me. You should've seen him—he was on his knees, puppy dog eyes and everything, just begging to forgiveness!"_

_"Let's not get too carried away here," Cheng cut in, rolling his eyes._

_"Yeah," Feng said, surprising Cheng with his sudden agreement. "The day Cheng falls to his knees to beg is the day I let you guys tag along on one of my dates with Biyu."_

"I see," Biyu laughed. She turned to Feng, pinching his cheek. "So it really _is_ your fault. No complaining."

Feng sighed, reaching for the untouched pile of menu cards in the center of the table. "Whatever, let's just order."

"Everybody good?" Liang asked after about a minute. When everyone nodded, he lifted his arm, motioning for one of the waiters.

Seconds later, a waitress approached the table. "Ready to order?"

Liang nodded. "Yeah, I'll have number eight."

The waitress nodded and turned to the next person, slowly making her way around the table.

"Nine."

"Eleven."

"Fifteen."

"Same here."

"Eleven for me."

"I'll have nine, please."

"And I want twenty-two."

"Okay, your orders will be ready shortly," the waitress drawled, turning and making her way towards the kitchen.

"Wasn't number eleven a noodle dish?" Xiang asked Qing and Jiayi once the waitress was gone.

Everyone except Biyu, Qing, and Cheng fixed their gaze on Jiayi questioningly.

"Yup," Qing answered, exchanging a grin with Jiayi.

"I've finally gotten over my fear of noodles," Jiayi announced proudly. After the boys' jaws dropped, she hastily added, "But only non-brown noodles."

"What?" Zhuang and Xiang exclaimed.

"When did this happen?" Feng asked, stunned.

Jiayi turned her head, sending a warm smile at Cheng, who smirked. "Cheng somehow convinced me to go to a noodle shop with him for our first date."

"Wait, why do you have a fear of noodles?" Biyu asked, amused.

Jiayi turned slightly green at the thought of the traumatizing experience in her past. She shuddered. "Ugh, just the thought of it makes me want to throw up. It's all because of my cousin, Mengyao."

_"You brought your lunch today," ten-year-old Cheng observed as he set his tray down on the table._

_Jiayi looked up, grinning as Qing and Liang sat down beside them. "Yeah, my cousin came over yesterday and made me lunch."_

_"Your cousin?" Qing asked. "Hui?"_

_Jiayi shook her head. "No, his twin, Mengyao."_

_Liang's eyebrows shot up. "That's weird. I thought Hui was the nice, considerate one."_

_"Maybe Mengyao had a change of heart," Jiayi chirped cheerfully, popping the lid off of her food container and revealing a mass of brown noodles. "I guess this lets him off the hook for all those pranks he pulled on me."_

_She dug her chopsticks into the noodles, not noticing how her friends' eyes had widened almost comically._

_"Jiayi! Wait!" Qing squeaked._

_Liang and Cheng lunged for her, screeching, "STOP!"_

_Their hands hit Jiayi's simultaneously, swatting the chopsticks out of her hand. However, it was too late. Jiayi already had a large mouthful. Confused and annoyed, she looked down at her chopsticks, lying on the floor with several pieces of noodles surrounding it. Nearby, squirming madly, was a smooth brown earthworm, coated in a rich brown sauce._

_Jiayi froze, mouth still filled._

_Fearing the worst, she turned back and looked at her noodles. Wriggling amongst the strands of noodles were countless identical earthworms. Qing, Liang, and Cheng were staring at her in disgusted anticipation for her to reach a conclusion._

_When she reached it, the reaction was instantaneous._

_Squealing in horror, she spat out her mouthful onto her lunch container, almost too terrified to look yet too curious not to. Wadded together were slightly chewed noodles and two worms, one bitten clearly in half while the other was crushed at one end. Both still wriggled weakly._

_Jiayi continued spitting even after she had nothing left in her mouth._

_Cheng slowly reached over and touched her back, rubbing slow circles as she coughed._

_"Y-you okay?" Qing asked uncertainly, eyeing Jiayi's red yet green complexion._

_Instead of answering, Jiayi suddenly sprang up. With a hand over her mouth, she bolted out of the lunchroom, presumably to the bathroom._

By the end of Jiayi's story, Biyu looked torn from laughing at her friend's misfortune and gagging in disgust.

"Your cousin did that?" she choked, giggling.

Jiayi scowled. "Yeah. Evil right?"

"Brutal," Biyu agreed, nodding as she giggled into her palm.

Suddenly, an array of delicious scents wafted their way, followed by the waitress who had taken their orders. Somehow, she had eight plates balanced along her arms. Ever the gentleman, Liang jumped up, followed shortly by Xiang, to assist her in handing out the plates. Once they were all settled, the waitress flashed Liang and Xiang a grateful smile before leaving.

"That was nice of you guys," Biyu commented. She leaned forward, breathing in the rich aroma given off by the barbecued spare ribs before her. "Mm, smells good."

"It may smell good," Xiang said, glancing at Biyu and Zhuang's—who had ordered the same meal—plates. "But I doubt that's very healthy." His own order was a plate of beef and broccoli stir-fry.

"Xiang's a health freak," Qing told Biyu.

Xiang snorted. "And Qing's the pickiest eater you'll ever meet."

"I am not picky!" Qing cried.

Cheng and Feng, both of whom ordered fried rice, exchanged exasperated looks before simultaneously exclaiming, "Yeah, you are."

"He doesn't like vegetables, meatballs, vanilla ice cream, ketchup, minty things," Liang explained to Biyu as he poured some vinegar over his dumplings. "Honestly, it's probably faster to ask him to list things he _does_ like to eat than to list things he _doesn't__." _He sighed, shaking his head exasperatedly._ "_Sometimes Qing acts like the way he looks."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Qing demanded.

Jiayi rolled her eyes. "He's saying you act like a little kid sometimes."

"Seriously though!" Liang exclaimed when he saw Biyu's expression. "Aren't little kids usually really picky? That's Qing in a nutshell!"

Cheng laughed. "If Qing's the little kid and Xiang is the health freak, then you could say Feng is the garbage disposal."

"True that," Jiayi and Liang chuckled.

Feng rolled his eyes and turned to Biyu. "They just like giving me their leftovers. Can't let good food go to waste right?"

"Hey Feng," Qing cut in, piling his soup spoon up with leafy greens. "Will you eat my vegetables?"

Feng rolled his eyes again. "Sure."

* * *

Roughly an hour later, the gang bid each other farewell as they parted ways to go home. Feng and Biyu linked hands and wandered off, planning on spending a little more time together without the others. Similarly, Jiayi grabbed Cheng's hand, swinging it back and forth as they headed home, being practically neighbors.

After a moment of walking in comfortable silence, Jiayi giggled.

"I don't know how Biyu stands us," she laughed. "We were so annoying."

Cheng chuckled. "After the ruckus we made after we pressured them into kissing, I doubt she—or Feng—will ever let us all tag along on their dates again."

"Even _I_ wouldn't want them to tag along on _my_ dates," Jiayi laughed.

"I think you mean _our_ dates," Cheng remarked, pulling his hand free from Jiayi's grasp so that he could drape his arm around her small shoulders as they walked. She blinked, surprised, before she grinned, feeling her chest swell up with a giddy sensation. It never ceased to warm her up inside when Cheng did or said little things that indicated his feelings for her.

Even so, he had yet to ask her to be his girlfriend; they hadn't even planned their second date yet despite Cheng's assurances that there would be one. Truth be told, Jiayi was still a little worried that he was just going along with her feelings to be a good friend.

Subconsciously, she clenched her fists. She didn't want him to pretend for her; she wanted him to be with who he really wanted to be with, and if that person wasn't her, then so be it.

She didn't address her fears until they were nearing her house.

"You okay?" Cheng asked as they walked up to her front door. "You've been oddly quiet."

"Cheng," Jiayi said slowly, stepping out from under Cheng's arm. Immediately, she felt much colder without his warm hug. Straightforward as always, she crossed her arms and looked up into Cheng's surprised eyes. "We're best friends, right?"

"Yeah," Cheng said slowly, looking confused.

"Then you know that we can tell each other anything right?" Jiayi continued, still meeting his gaze head on. "Meaning you and I can say _anything_ and it doesn't affect our friendship at all."

"Yeah," Cheng said again, confusion warping into slight caution, unsure of what her point was.

Jiayi uncrossed her arms, her onyx eyes hardening. "Then you can tell me how you really feel," she gestured to the space between them, "about _us_. I don't want you to pretend anything for my sake, okay?"

Cheng stared at her, dark eyes unreadable.

Was that what she thought he was doing? Truth be told, he _was_ just going along with her feelings for her sake—at first. On their first date, he'd foolishly assumed that things would return to normal afterwards, but then she'd let slip her hope for a second date—and that was when Cheng realized that her feelings for him were real.

She wasn't playing around or teasing him anymore. Sincerity and poorly hidden hope had and _still_ shone in her dark eyes; she was honest when she said that she liked him.

Back on their first date, after he came to that realization, Cheng had desperately searched himself, praying that he could summon the same feelings so that he wouldn't have to crush her, wouldn't have to break her heart. She didn't deserve that kind of heartbreak, not when she was such a terrific friend who consistently gave her all in their friendship without expecting much in return.

Cheng closed his eyes briefly, letting his eyes flutter open again after a few seconds. It was time to come clean. No more dancing around topics, no more blurry lines, no more uncertainty.

Seeing the resolved look on Cheng's face, Jiayi lowered her eyes, letting out a soft barely-audible sigh as she tried not to seem too disappointed, lest she make Cheng feel guilty. "I see. It's ok—" She cut herself off, breath caught in her throat mid-word.

It could have been the way he was suddenly much closer, standing right before her.

Or it could have been the way his fingers came up her chin, grasping it lightly as he tilted her head up. Absentmindedly, she was startled at how he was already half a head taller. Had he always been that tall?

Or maybe it was the way his eyes held hers, shimmering with amusement, a little pain, and so many more feelings mixed together that they blended unrecognizably.

"Don't be ridiculous," Cheng breathed, close enough to her face that she could feel his breath ghost along the bridge of her nose. "Since when have you known me to be that selfless?"

With that, he closed the space between their lips.

Jiayi's eyes widened when she felt his lips press firmly against hers, and she froze. She had wondered before what it would be like to kiss Cheng, had even entertained the idea of giving it a try randomly out of the blue someday, but her imagination didn't do the true experience justice.

The moment he sealed his lips to hers, a jittery shiver ran down her spine, and that giddy feeling swelled up in her chest again, this time so light and fluttery that she thought her chest might burst. His eyes were open, carefully watching hers, waiting for her reaction. With butterflies still dancing in her stomach, Jiayi smiled into the kiss, allowed her eyelids to flutter shut, and tentatively kissed back. A feeling she could only describe as happiness spread through her, and suddenly her doubts and worries were no more. Suddenly feeling so much lighter, like she could soar through the clouds if she wanted to, she brought her hands up to rest on Cheng's chest, feeling static beneath her fingertips.

As Jiayi closed her eyes and began to kiss back, Cheng closed his own eyes and relaxed the tenseness in his spine. As if Jiayi's kiss lit a flame within him, warmth licked at his mind, washing away his earlier fear of rejection for his sudden kiss. His hands moved by themselves, the one on her chin moving to cup the side of her face while his free hand shifted down to settle in the toned curve of her waist. He held her gently, showing a tenderness he didn't know he possessed, like she were fragile glass or wisps of something priceless that would slip through his fingers like water if he wasn't careful.

Finally, the need to breathe became too great, and the pair parted, faces flushed.

Cheng, feeling immensely satisfied, smiled and leaned his forehead against Jiayi's. "Everything clear now?"

She smiled back, looking more shy than he had ever seen her look. "Crystal clear."

"Well, just one more thing to take care of then," Cheng continued. He grabbed one of Jiayi's hands, bringing it up and pressing a light kiss to her knuckles. "Jiayi, will you be my girlfriend?"

She seriously worried that her chest might actually burst. Was it possible to have such a warm feeling blossom in her chest like that?

She grinned widely. "I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

**MHJ:** Did you squeal at the kiss part? ;) Don't lie to me! I know you did~ lol jk I'm totally just being super arrogant lol. I hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless though! :) Lol I bet some of you guys feel cheated that I made such a huge deal out of chapter 15, made you read through a bunch of silly filler stuff, and the kiss was only like a couple of paragraphs lol. I'm sorry! xD

**Question:** Did you guys like the kiss? :3 What else in the chapter did you like? Umm...yeah no legit question this time. ^.^'

**Quota:** 15 legit this time. I'm not letting you guys get away with anything less this time!


	16. Bad Influence

**MHJ:** I'm glad you guys liked the kiss! :3 Sadly, life is unfair. Time to interrupt the peace! (insert evil smiley face) MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!

Did you guys know Zhenwei Wang (actor who plays Cheng) has a twitter? He's also got a weibo (Chinese microblogging website). :O I shall promote for him!  
Caution: His weibo is (obviously) all in Chinese.

Twitter: zhenweiwang

Weibo: wangzhenwei1020

He's got some pictures online of him right now, and I must say he looks pretty different. With the hair and the eyebrows, he looks kinda evil now lolol. I think he'd make a good Zuko though :) If only they didn't kill Avatar with that last movie though...

* * *

_Previously..._

_Jiayi's eyes widened when she felt his lips press firmly against hers, and she froze. She had wondered before what it would be like to kiss Cheng, had even entertained the idea of giving it a try randomly out of the blue someday, but her imagination didn't do the true experience justice._

_The moment he sealed his lips to hers, a jittery shiver ran down her spine, and that giddy feeling swelled up in her chest again, this time so light and fluttery that she thought her chest might burst. His eyes were open, carefully watching hers, waiting for her reaction. With butterflies still dancing in her stomach, Jiayi smiled into the kiss, allowed her eyelids to flutter shut, and tentatively kissed back. A feeling she could only describe as happiness spread through her, and suddenly her doubts and worries were no more. Suddenly feeling so much lighter, like she could soar through the clouds if she wanted to, she brought her hands up to rest on Cheng's chest, feeling static beneath her fingertips._

_As Jiayi closed her eyes and began to kiss back, Cheng closed his own eyes and relaxed the tenseness in his spine. As if Jiayi's kiss lit a flame within him, warmth licked at his mind, washing away his earlier fear of rejection for his sudden kiss. His hands moved by themselves, the one on her chin moving to cup the side of her face while his free hand shifted down to settle in the toned curve of her waist. He held her gently, showing a tenderness he didn't know he possessed, like she were fragile glass or wisps of something priceless that would slip through his fingers like water if he wasn't careful._

_Finally, the need to breathe became too great, and the pair parted, faces flushed._

_Cheng, feeling immensely satisfied, smiled and leaned his forehead against Jiayi's. "Everything clear now?"_

_She smiled back, looking more shy than he had ever seen her look. "Crystal clear."_

_"Well, just one more thing to take care of then," Cheng continued. He grabbed one of Jiayi's hands, bringing it up and pressing a light kiss to her knuckles. "Jiayi, will you be my girlfriend?"_

_She seriously worried that her chest might actually burst. Was it possible to have such a warm feeling blossom in her chest like that?_

_She grinned widely. "I thought you'd never ask."_

Chapter 16

The boys were upon Cheng like a pack of dogs the second he walked through the school gates.

"Cheng! You sly devil, you!"

"Did you really do it? Did you really?"

"I can't believe you actually worked up the nerve to do that!"

"It's nice, isn't it?"

"Jiayi and Cheng, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S—"

It wasn't until Zhuang started singing that Cheng understood what they were rambling about.

Face reddening, he blanched at them. "Wh—how did you guys know so soon?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Did Jiayi tell you?"

Liang raised his hand. "Technically, she only told me, but then I told everyone else."

Qing bounced up to Cheng's face, eyes wide in giddy excitement. "Did you really kiss Jiayi?"

Cheng nodded, having to place his hands on Qing's shoulders firmly when the boy started to bounce hyper-actively.

Zhuang came next. With a wide, goofy grin, he nudged Cheng's side, wiggling his eyebrows in the process. "Come on, Cheng, we're all dying to know. How was The Kiss? Is Jiayi a good kisser?"

They all laughed at Cheng's reddened face.

"Seriously," Xiang said after a moment of watching Cheng sputter indignantly. "Answer the question!"

Cheng coughed, averting his gaze. "It was...pretty awesome. And, uh, yes, she is a very good kisser."

The other boys burst out into roars of laughter before clapping Cheng on the back, their praises cutting each other off and making it impossible for Cheng to decipher their words.

"What are you guys doing...?"

At the sound of Jiayi's amused voice, they turned to invite her into the celebration. Upon seeing her standing there, staring at them perplexedly, their jaws dropped.

Arching a brow at the boys' gawking, Jiayi let her lips quirk up amusedly. "You guys okay?"

"Y-" Cheng choked. "You're wearing a skirt?"

"Willingly?" Liang added squeakily.

"Something really weird is going on," Feng muttered suspiciously, glancing around for a sign of a prank.

Zhuang nodded. "Yeah, first Cheng gets over Meiying, then he and Jiayi finally get together."

"Then they have their first kiss," Xiang added. "And now Jiayi's willingly wearing a skirt and _not_ freaking out about it?"

"THE WORLD IS ENDING!" Qing screamed, grabbing his head in despair. "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!"

Rolling her eyes, Jiayi smacked Qing upside the head, snapping him out of his panic. She grinned toothily. "Don't worry guys! Yesterday, I was looking through my closet and I found a bunch of skirts. Then, I had this amazing _epiphany_! It was like BOOM! _I am a genius!_ Now, it's okay when I wear skirts! Just look how clever I am, see?" With that, she reached for the hem of her skirt.

"STOP!" the boys screamed, jumping away and shielding their eyes.

Jiayi sighed exasperatedly before lifting up the skirt a little to show the running shorts hidden under it. "I said it was okay..."

The boys sighed in relief.

"Don't scare us like that," Xiang admonished, a hand to his chest.

Jiayi rolled her eyes. "You know, normal guys would be pretty excited if a girl went to lift her skirt."

Aghast looks claimed the boys' faces.

"The situation is completely different!"

"You're practically our sister!"

"No guy wants to see their sister's panties!"

"Yeah, that's just...stop."

"Cheng has no excuse though..."

"SHUT UP!" Cheng roared.

They all burst out laughing again.

"Come on, let's head to class," Liang chuckled.

"Yeah, okay," Qing said, following. Jiayi and Cheng waved to their upperclassmen friends before following as well, moving as a little quartet.

As they neared the halls, Jiayi spotted Meiying standing by the wall, staring intensely at a sheet of paper.

"Hold on guys," she muttered to the others before making her way towards Meiying. After a moment of hesitation, the three boys followed.

Meiying looked up when Jiayi called her name.

"Why're you looking so down?" Jiayi asked, peering at the paper Meiying had been staring at. Comprehension dawned in her eyes. "Oh, your audition."

"Audition?" Qing repeated, confused.

Liang furrowed his brows. "Isn't your audition in like two weeks."

Cheng looked at the paper, his brows shooting up in surprise. "It's been moved up to tomorrow."

Meiying looked distraught. "I've never been so nervous in my life."

Jiayi clapped Meiying on the shoulder. "You'll do fine! You've been preparing for this since forever!"

"Plus, we'll all be there to support you," Liang added warmly.

Meiying sighed, flashing them a small smile. The smile faltered a little at Cheng, but returned full force when she looked back at Jiayi. "Thanks guys."

"Well, we're going to class," Qing said.

"Don't stress out too much over the audition," Liang added.

"See you later," Jiayi called as they left. Cheng remained silent throughout the exchange.

* * *

Cheng sighed. "Geez, where's Meiying? It's almost her turn."

"I don't know, but she's going to miss her audition if she doesn't hurry," Xiang said, frowning at his watch.

"I had no idea auditions for a place in music school would be so cool," Jiayi breathed, eyes fixated on the stage. "Feng and Zhuang are totally missing out."

Qing and Liang were equally entranced by the auditions.

"Wow, how old do you think that kid is?" Qing muttered, watching a young boy's fingers dance along a piano at an astounding speed, producing the bumblebee tune.

For once passing up on the opportunity to tease Qing for his height, Liang shrugged. "Looks like he's only ten or something."

Jiayi whistled. "Damn, that's talent..."

At that, Xiang, resident music expert in the gang, scoffed. "Please, I bet I could do that."

With a flourish of his fingers, the young boy finished his piano piece, stood up, and bowed to the judges, all of whom were smiling.

"Look! There's Meiying!" Cheng suddenly hissed, pointing over at Meiying, who was being hurried by her parents toward the stage.

Liang blinked. "Why is she still wearing her uniform?"

"At least she's here on time," Jiayi sighed in relief.

They all fell silent again as Meiying, ushered by her mother and violin tutor, scurried up onto the stage. She gave a short bow to the judges then to her background players before setting her bow on her violin's strings. She took a deep breath and pulled the bow down, beginning her selection.

Slowly, a sweet high note trilled out.

As Meiying played, Jiayi frowned, drumming her fingers along the banister, where she and her friends were watching from above. Finally, she nudged the other four, whispering, "Did you guys see her at school today at all?"

"We said hi to her this morning," Qing whispered back.

Jiayi rolled her eyes. "After that, dummy."

"I," Cheng said slowly after a second, "don't think so."

"Wait, now that think about it," Liang said, frowning. "She was absent in the classes we share."

"Same here," Jiayi said while Cheng and Qing nodded their agreements.

Xiang arched an eyebrow. "What, so you're saying she ditched or something?" At their uncertain looks, he laughed quietly. "Are you kidding? This—"

Suddenly, Jiayi gasped. "Guys, that's Parker!"

Indeed, Dre was surreptitiously slipping into a seat in the very back of the auditorium, ironically behind Meiying's strict violin tutor.

Qing stared at the dark-skinned American. "Come to think of it...I haven't seen him at school today either."

"I saw him this morning though," Xiang argued.

Cheng's eyes burned like hot coals. "That brat convinced her to _skip school_?" He looked like he wanted to punch something. "Doesn't he know how important this audition is for her?"

"Okay," Jiayi sighed, moving behind Cheng. She wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning her chin on his shoulder. "Let's calm down before we do something rash like jumping off the balcony."

After another few seconds, Xiang shook his head. "No, she's not going to make it."

"How do you know?" Qing asked.

"Yeah, she sounds pretty good to me," Liang said.

"She's not on par with the other auditions," Xiang stubbornly argued, shaking his head. "It's like with kung fu, okay? In kung fu, you need absolute focus so you don't hurt yourself or anything. Same with school, sports, anything. You need to focus to do well, right?"

"And Meiying's not totally focused," Jiayi concluded for him. Xiang nodded.

At that moment, Meiying completed her piece, drawing out the last sad note, biting her lip nervously in the process. It seemed like even she knew that she had not played her best in the audition. As her last note faded into silence, the judges began to scribble on their clipboards, lips drawn together tightly in indifference.

Suddenly, loud clapping cut through the silence of the room. In the back, Dre clapped shamelessly, oblivious to the many glares sent his way.

"What an idiot," Cheng muttered.

Jiayi unraveled her limbs from Cheng. "Come on, let's go down."

The other four nodded, and they pranced down the stairs quickly, arriving on the lower level just in time to see Meiying's parents pulling Meiying to the side of the auditorium.

Her parents looked at her with disappointment in his eyes.

"Meiying, what happened?" her mother asked. "You've always been a good child; why would you ever skip school? And this audition—did you understand how important this is? I thought you wanted to learn music."

She paused when she saw her distracted daughter glance towards the back of the auditorium, smile, and waggle her pinky in the air. It was then that Cheng decided to enlighten Meiying's parents on the situation.

"Sir," he said. His eyes flashed towards Meiying, whose eyes widened with panic. "We think that boy back there convinced Meiying to skip school with him."

Qing, Liang, Jiayi, and Xiang nodded behind him, and Meiying's father's eyes hardened.

"Meiying, you are forbidden from seeing that boy again."

Meiying's eyes snapped up to him, widened, and she opened her mouth to argue. At her father's stern glance, however, she closed her mouth and nodded, lowering her head. Together, she and her father walked towards the auditorium exit with everyone else trailing behind.

Dre stood up as they approached, only having eyes for Meiying. "**Hey! That was...fantastic!**" He grinned. "**You played so beautifully and—**"

Meiying clearly wasn't listening. She looked at Dre sadly, glanced up at her father, and visibly steeled herself. Solemnly, she said, "**We can no longer be friends. You are banned from my life.**"

What had been left of Dre's lovestruck smile slipped off completely as Meiying brushed by him with her parents, walking away without so much as a glance back.

As Meiying and her family left, Cheng took that moment to approach Dre. Behind him, Qing and Jiayi teasingly wagged their pinkies in the air like Dre and Meiying had.

"**See you at the tournament,**" Cheng said, smirking. Finally, _finally_, Meiying would see reason and realize that Cheng had been right all along that Dre was the wrong match for her. "**Don't be late for that.**"

* * *

_"You seem oddly happy," Jiayi mused later that night as she and Cheng walked home._

_Cheng shrugged, still grinning smugly. "I'm just happy that justice is _finally_ being served. Now that we have proof that Dre is a bad influence, maybe Meiying will finally realize that I've been right this whole time."_

"What's your point in telling me this?" an amused male voice asked over the phone.

Jiayi sighed, rolling over onto her side in her bed. "Do you think he still likes her?"

"Based on what you just told me," the voice replied calmly. "I think you're overthinking this. Just calm down."

"It's not just what he said," Jiayi argued. "It's the way he said it. Plus, he looked really happy and relaxed—as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders or something." She sighed again. "I just can't help but worry that he still likes her."

"Well, you know Cheng better than I do, Jiayi," the voice said. "Based on the words, I'd say you're overthinking things. I still think you are, but if you really feel that badly, I'd suggest you talk to Cheng about it."

"Is that Jiayi?" a new voice suddenly said faintly on the other line.

A shiver ran down Jiayi's spine as the voice, much louder this time, sang out, "Hi there, little cousin! Still afraid of noodles?"

"Mengyao!" the original voice snapped faintly.

Jiayi cleared her throat. "Well, alright, thanks for listening, Hui—you're the best cousin ever! Mengyao, I hate your guts. Bye!"

With that, she hung up, tossing her phone onto the bed beside her as she rolled onto her back. Staring up at the top of her canopy bed, she sighed. "Cheng, why are you so complicated."

* * *

**MHJ:** Alright, you're probably feeling very annoyed right now that there isn't much fluff and that I introduced a new mini conflict, but just take a deep breath...yeah, just breath in...and now let it out...feel better? :D If not, just repeat the process until you pass out. ^_^

Question: I'm curious, who is your favorite member of the gang (excluding Cheng and Jiayi)? Personally, I like Liang the best, and Qing is a close second. Zhuang is third and then Xiang and Feng are tied for last. How about you guys?

**Quota:** 15 reviews. Ttyl guys! ^_^


	17. Turbulence

**MHJ:** Hopefully this chapter won't make you hate Meiying too much lol.

I've added 4 more anime pictures of Jiayi onto my Tumblr! :D Two of them are of her and Cheng. ^_^

About the Avatar comment I made in the last chapter, I think some of you might have taken me seriously. When I said the last movie killed Avatar, I didn't mean they actually killed Aang. I personally was really disappointed with the live-action Avatar movie, so when I say they killed Avatar, I mean that they ruined it. In my opinion. I mean, seriously they could've done a much better job! Ughh!

* * *

_Previously..._

_Jiayi sighed, rolling over onto her side in her bed. "Do you think he still likes her?"_

_"Based on what you just told me," the voice replied calmly. "I think you're overthinking this. Just calm down."_

_"It's not just what he said," Jiayi argued. "It's the way he said it. Plus, he looked really happy and relaxed—as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders or something." She sighed again. "I just can't help but worry that he still likes her."_

_"Well, you know Cheng better than I do, Jiayi," the voice said. "Based on the words, I'd say you're overthinking things. I still think you are, but if you really feel that badly, I'd suggest you talk to Cheng about it."_

_"Is that Jiayi?" a new voice suddenly said faintly on the other line._

_A shiver ran down Jiayi's spine as the voice, much louder this time, sang out, "Hi there, little cousin! Still afraid of noodles?"_

_"Mengyao!" the original voice snapped faintly._

_Jiayi cleared her throat. "Well, alright, thanks for listening, Hui—you're the best cousin ever! Mengyao, I hate your guts. Bye!"_

_With that, she hung up, tossing her phone onto the bed beside her as she rolled onto her back. Staring up at the top of her canopy bed, she sighed. "Cheng, why are you so complicated."_

Chapter 17

Meiying shifted her weight uncomfortably as she stood by the door to one of the Fighting Dragon dojos. According to her watch, class had just ended, and she could hear people mulling around inside, making small talk as they gathered their things to leave.

Finally, the door swung open, and out came a small group of tall boys, all laughing at something Meiying hadn't heard. After them, the door swung open again, each time allowing a small group of boys to trickle out. Each time, some of the boys glanced at Meiying curiously, but continued on their way without pause.

Finally, the last ones in the dojo came out, a blonde-haired girl accompanied by two laughing boys—all of whom Meiying recognized from the grade above her.

"Biyu," she called out as they emerged from the door. "Is Cheng still inside?"

"Hey Meiying," the girl replied with a smile. "Yeah, he and his friends are in the infirmary."

"Jiayi took a pretty nasty hit today," one of the boys explained when he saw Meiying's startled expression. "No worries, though, she'll be fine."

The other nodded, rolling his eyes. "And of course that means the whole gang has to stay behind. Those guys are so close it's almost ridiculous."

"They're in the small room in the back of the dojo," Biyu told Meiying. "If Master Li asks you what you're doing, just say you need to speak with Cheng and the others. If you're lucky, he'll be in the storage room and you won't have to speak with him at all." With that, she and the other two boys left.

Meiying took a deep breath and reached out for the door, pulling it open and slipping inside quietly. Luck was with her, for Cheng's scary kung fu master was nowhere in sight. As quietly as she could, feeling like a thief in the process, she slunk through the dojo, reaching the other side in seconds.

As she approached the infirmary door, she could hear Jiayi's whines drifting through the closed door.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, that hurts! Liang, you suck at first aid!"

"Shut up, will you?" Liang replied in an annoyed tone. In the background were giggles and snickers that Meiying assumed were from the rest of the gang. There was a moment of silence, then, "There, all done. It's going to be pretty tender for a while, but you could probably remove the bandage by tomorrow."

"About time," Xiang muttered.

"Not my fault Miss Chatterbox here kept whining about the pain and not letting me continue," Liang said. "You'd think the Fighting Dragon's best female fighter would have a higher pain tolerance."

At that, someone—Cheng, Meiying thought—snorted. "You'd think the Fighting Dragon's best female fighter would have more common sense than to chit-chat during one of Master Li's classes. Haven't you learned from last time?"

"It's not my fault! Biyu was—"

Meiying knocked on the door.

Silence, then footsteps, and the door opened to reveal childlike Qing, dressed in his kung fu uniform with sweat still glistening at his temples.

"Meiying?" he asked, surprised. His brows furrowed in confusion and he tilted his head cutely. "What are you doing here?"

Meiying stepped forward and Qing moved out of the way so that the rest of the gang could see her as well.

Jiayi was sitting on the counter, in the process of rolling down her sleeve to cover her newly-bandaged wrist. Liang was standing by her, putting the medical tape away into a drawer; scattered around the room, sitting on stools and empty areas of the counter, were the others. Her eyes snapped immediately to Cheng, whose surprised look had faded into one of smug superiority.

"Hi," Meiying said uncertainly. "I need to talk to Cheng."

Without breaking eye contact with Meiying, Cheng gestured at the others with his hand. "You guys go. I'll catch up with you."

The others exchange unreadable glances before, one by one, they all left the room, each throwing one last curious glance at Meiying as they passed. Jiayi was the last one out, brow furrowed slightly, but she didn't say anything as she closed the door behind her, giving the two privacy.

Cheng, still seated on a stool, looked up at Meiying expectantly, still smiling that smug grin. Parts of his face still glistened with sweat and some of his hair stuck to his forehead stubbornly. His cheeks were still blotchily flushed from his class, but he'd at least caught his breath. She wasn't sure how to handle this version of Cheng—calm, smug, not-angry.

"So what brings you here?" he asked.

"I need to talk to you about the tournament," Meiying replied. "Just...go easy on Dre, alright?"

His eyebrows shot up. "Why?"

"He's only been training for, what, two months?" Meiying exclaimed, crossing her arms. "You've been doing kung fu for how long now?"

"Nearly ten years," Cheng replied smoothly.

"Exactly," Meiying said, giving Cheng an annoyed look. "You think Dre can beat you with his two months worth of training?"

"Nope."

"Then will you please go easy on him? I don't care if you win, just don't take things too extreme, alright?"

"The refs don't let people take things to the extreme anyway, but I'm not promising to tone down anything."

Meiying felt like she was a hair's width away from screaming and yanking her own hair in frustration. "My gosh, Cheng, why are you always so heartless?"

"Look," Cheng snapped, suddenly reverting back to the surly, callous, rough Cheng she knew. "Dre can't protect you, he can't make you happy, your parents wouldn't approve of him—he even ruined your audition for the Beijing Academy of Music! Why do you care so much about this guy?"

"How would you know what would make me happy?" Meiying shot back.

Venomously, Cheng just spat, "If Dre can't beat me in this competition, I'll never let you two be together. He needs to win my respect and _prove_ himself."

A sudden noise outside—like something was suddenly knocked over—stole Meiying's next words. Curiously, she went and opened the door, looking out, but the dojo was empty as ever. The only thing of notice was the door leading to the outside, swinging back and forth slowly.

* * *

_Venomously, Cheng just spat, "If Dre can't beat me in this competition, I'll never let you two be together. He needs to win my respect and _prove_ himself."_

Jiayi sighed as she recalled the previous night. After everyone else left the room, she had lingered behind the closed door, curious about Cheng and Meiying's conversation. Her heart just about sank when she heard those words, and afterwards, she suddenly didn't want to hear anymore. In her haste to leave, she had knocked over a stray wood training staff that had been leaning against the wall.

Why did he care so much about Meiying and Dre? Why did they matter anymore?

"Jiayi, you okay?" Liang asked, looking up from his book when his friend let her head collapse onto her folded arms. The two of them were in the library, waiting for Cheng and Qing to show up so they could start their group study session for the upcoming math test.

Jiayi nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."

"If you say so," Liang said uncertainly, but he turned back to his book when Jiayi started to dig through her backpack. She had just pulled out her history notebook for some random studying, when she heard it.

"Are you serious? Wow, Cheng is such a jerk!"

From out behind some bookshelves walked Meiying and three of her friends, bent together and whispering heatedly. Not noticing Liang and Jiayi, both of whom had suddenly gone very still, the four girls plopped themselves at the table behind them, still continuing their whispered conversation.

"I'm starting to get the feeling that he likes me or something," Meiying hissed, sounding almost disgusted. "Gosh, he's always sticking his nose in my business."

'_Because he doesn't want to see you get hurt,_' Jiayi thought bitterly. Judging by the way, Liang had stopped reading and was merely staring at a spot on the page, he was thinking the same thing.

"You and that jerk?" Wen exclaimed, her voice still at the volume of a whisper. "No way! He doesn't deserve you!"

'_Other way around, please,_' Jiayi thought, rolling her eyes.

"Dre is so much better suited for you," Suyin agreed. "You two are so cute together! He's such a gentleman too—unlike Cheng. Seriously, sometimes I think that guy only knows how to destroy things."

"Okay, enough with the Cheng bashing, guys," Chunhua cut in. "I think you guys are being a little too harsh. Cheng's a nice guy."

'_Thank you, Chunhua,_' Jiayi sighed, relieved. '_Awesome as always!_'

"Cheng, nice?" Meiying repeated incredulously.

"Chunhua, those two words don't even belong in the same sentence," Suyin giggled.

"You're closer to him than we are," Wen said. "Tell us, he probably just blackmails and threatens people to act like his friends, right? I don't believe those guys can truly like him."

There was a soft slam as Chunhua closed her book. When she spoke again, her voice was tight. "Look, guys, Cheng is my friend. I've hung out with him and the others plenty of times and he's always proven to be someone who truly cares for his friends. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd rather head home and study by myself than listen to you guys bash one of my friends."

With that, she was gone before her friends could call her back. Meanwhile, Jiayi and Liang exchanged grins, glad that Chunhua had stood up for them.

"I think she's just stressed about the math test," Wen sighed. "Back to the topic, seriously Meiying, just ignore Cheng."

"I second that," Suyin said. "At least with Dre, you wouldn't have to be worried that he'll strike you when he's mad or something."

That was it.

As one, Jiayi and Liang turned around.

"That was really uncalled for!" Liang hissed.

Jiayi glared at Suyin. "You don't have any idea what the hell you're talking about!"

The three girls started the second they realized that Liang and Jiayi had heard everything they said, but they recovered quickly.

Wen shot them a skeptical look. "What, so you're telling me you guys deal with Cheng willingly?"

"I don't know how Chunhua stands you guys," Liang snarled.

Suyin giggled. "Isn't that our line?"

"At least Cheng has an outstanding academic record," Jiayi snapped, smirking. Technically, everyone in their gang did since kung fu taught them diligence in everything they did, including school. "I can't say the same for Meiying now that Parker's convinced her to skip school."

"We _told_ you he was a bad influence," Liang added.

At the angry scowl on Meiying's face, Jiayi's smirk widened. "And no matter what, don't forget: you parents forbid you from socializing with him, remember? Cheng, on the other hand? Hah, everyone wants their kid to be friends with him." It was mostly true; all of their parents adored Cheng, just as Cheng's parents adored them."

With a screech of her chair, Meiying suddenly stood up. Jerkily gathering her stuff, she turned on her heel and marched out of the library without looking back.

Suyin and Wen glared at Jiayi.

"Dude, that was way harsh!" Wen hissed, gathering her things as well.

Suyin nodded. "Yeah, you went too far there. Meiying's really upset about that."

"Oh, yeah, and I'm _not_ upset about your dumb comments about my best friend and _boyfriend_," Jiayi said sarcastically, her blood boiling.

"Just get lost," Liang snapped.

Without answering, Suyin and Wen just huffed and followed Meiying out.

"Geez," Liang muttered as he and Jiayi turned back to face their own table. "How does Chunhua stand them?"

"Chunhua's always been a patient person," Jiayi sighed.

* * *

**MHJ:** I tried not to bash Meiying too much so I made Suyin and Wen to absorb the hate. Lol some of you may remember Chunhua from Missing a Piece. Don't worry, as you can see, she's still a close friend of theirs, just not at the same level as the other version.

Just a reminder: I've added some more anime pics of Jiayi and Cheng onto my tumblr! :) 4, to be exact! ^_^ Check them out lol, there's even one of Jiayi beating up a kid.

**Question #1:** Do you guys want me to stick with the original tournament outcome (Dre beats Cheng in finals) or do you want me to make my own ending? I have a good idea for the original outcome, but a lot of you guys seem to want a different ending lol.

**Question #2:** Do you guys want to see an appearance from Hui and Mengyao? :)

**Quota:** 15 again :) You guys don't seem to have many problems with that, seeing as how you always finish the quota in less than 24 hours lol.


	18. Tempest

**MHJ:** Thank you everyone for your input about the result of the tournament! Pretty much all of you wanted Jiayi to win lol. I have thought and thought and thought about it, and unfortunately, I can't fit my idea in unless I stick with the original ending. D: Sorry, but I think you guys will like the ending anyways. ;) I might make an alternate ending like some of you suggested, but only if I have time/can think of something. xD

I have finished writing all the chapters except for the epilogue now! :D That means that chapter 19 and 20 are done! :D I'm like super excited that I'm done yet super sad...because I'm done. Lol does that make sense? xD

* * *

_Previously..._

_At the angry scowl on Meiying's face, Jiayi's smirk widened. "And no matter what, don't forget: you parents forbid you from socializing with him, remember? Cheng, on the other hand? Hah, everyone wants their kid to be friends with him." It was mostly true; all of their parents adored Cheng, just as Cheng's parents adored them."_

_With a screech of her chair, Meiying suddenly stood up. Jerkily gathering her stuff, she turned on her heel and marched out of the library without looking back._

_Suyin and Wen glared at Jiayi._

_"Dude, that was way harsh!" Wen hissed, gathering her things as well._

_Suyin nodded. "Yeah, you went too far there. Meiying's really upset about that."_

_"Oh, yeah, and I'm _not_ upset about your dumb comments about my best friend and boyfriend," Jiayi said sarcastically, her blood boiling._

_"Just get lost," Liang snapped._

_Without answering, Suyin and Wen just huffed and followed Meiying out._

_"Geez," Liang muttered as he and Jiayi turned back to face their own table. "How does Chunhua stand them?"_

_"Chunhua's always been a patient person," Jiayi sighed._

Chapter 18

With only a week until the tournament, it seemed as if everything had started to collapse.

Feng cried out as Cheng's piercing kick sent him slamming harshly onto the dojo floor. Clutching his stomach and panting for breath, he slowly rolled onto his side with a wince. "Damn, Cheng, what's with the aggressiveness?"

Liang and Zhuang stopped their own spar, both leaning forward with their hands on their knees as they tried to catch their breath.

"Yeah, Cheng, you've been training unusually..." Zhuang trailed off.

"Diligently?" Liang suggested.

"I was thinking more like 'crazily'?" Zhuang finished. "Or 'obsessively'?"

Cheng sighed, moving forward to offer Feng a hand up. "Sorry, I've just been so mad lately."

"About Meiying?" Liang asked, frowning. His tone made it clear that he wasn't too pleased with that.

Cheng didn't seem to notice. "Yeah, I mean, why's she blaming me for everything? Gosh!"

"Okay, that makes sense for the past few training sessions," Feng said, a hand to his abs. "But that doesn't explain your _serious aggressiveness_ today. Usually I can handle you decently, but today," he whistled, looking impressed albeit a little confused. "Today, you just totally blew me out of the water."

Cheng sighed, running a hand over his face. "Still Meiying. Last night, my mom was on the phone with her mom. Apparently Dre went to give them a formal apology. Meiying's dad, ever the softy," he scoffed, "agreed to give him another chance."

"Really?" Zhuang asked incredulously.

"Guys, enough of this conver—" Liang started to say, glancing worriedly over at the their silent female friend, but Cheng was already nodding in response to Zhuang.

"Yeah, I—" Cheng started to say when an annoyed voice suddenly cut in.

"Who freaking cares?" Jiayi snarled from her corner of the room where she was running through a staff routine. During her sudden outburst, her hand slipped, causing her wooden staff to whack her on the head before clattering to the floor. "Ow!"

Startled, the other four fell silent.

Liang was the first to break the silence. As Jiayi knelt to pick up her staff again, he motioned for Zhuang and Feng to follow him. "Let's give these two some privacy to work things out. Come on, guys, let's go say hi to the basic classes."

In seconds, the dojo was empty except for Cheng and Jiayi, who had started up her routine again.

Twirling the bo staff with nimble fingers, she abruptly snapped into the first lunge, staff whipping out with a furious speed. Her movements were strong, her footwork neat, her speed increasing with each step. The bo staff was in almost nonstop motion, jabbing and smacking invisible enemies before spinning like a record in her hands again.

Spinning and lunging and spinning again, she whirled through the routine with enough passion, enough anger that it no longer seemed like a just a staff routine. It was her emotions, raw and angry and powerful, embodied in the thrusts and spins of the staff.

So entranced was she in her deadly dance that she never noticed Cheng approaching until he suddenly came close to decapitation.

"Whoa! Jiayi, watch where you're going!"

The voice didn't throw her off balance, but merely added oil to the flame of her emotions. With a mighty yell, she spun, bo staff flying out of her hand towards Cheng like a javelin.

He yelped, swiftly dodging the wooden staff. His hand shot out, just barely managing to snag it out of the air as it sailed by his face. "Gosh, Jiayi, are you trying to kill me?"

"That was the idea," she responded blandly. Face flushed with stray locks of her bangs plastered to her forehead with sweat, she sat down on the floor and sighed.

Cautiously moving towards her, Cheng sat beside her. "So...what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Don't be difficult, Jiayi."

"Why not?"

"Jiayi..."

At the warning tone in Cheng's voice, Jiayi's lips twitched, but she caught herself before the smile formed. Pouting again, she glanced at Cheng. "Do you..." she frowned. "Do you still like Meiying?"

Cheng blinked owlishly. "What?"

Suddenly looking annoyed, Jiayi turned her head away and scoffed. "You do, don't you?"

It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do in that situation, but Cheng couldn't help it. He laughed—threw his head back and just _laughed_. As if what Jiayi was accusing him of was the funniest thing he'd heard in his life.

"Wow, I needed that," Cheng said cheerfully as he calmed down from his laughing fit. Reaching over, he went to ruffle Jiayi's hair affectionately. "You always know how to cheer me up."

The atmosphere suddenly dropped about ten degrees colder.

"It wasn't a joke."

Oh.

Cheng rolled his eyes and he leaned back on both his arms. "Aren't you and I a couple now? I can't exactly go around crushing on girls anymore. That's kind of the point of a relationship, you know."

"Stop playing around," Jiayi said, scowling at Cheng's nonchalance.

"How am I supposed to take you seriously when you ask a stupid question like that?" Cheng responded almost amusedly.

"It's not a stupid question," Jiayi exclaimed, frowning. "It's a serious issue! Stop treating it like it's dumb!"

"But it is," Cheng stated, rolling his eyes.

Hurt by his careless attitude, Jiayi narrowed her eyes at him. "It makes sense though! How you're _so upset_ over Meiying, how you hate Parker _so much_, how you're training _so hard_ for the tournament—"

"That's—" Cheng tried, but Jiayi wouldn't let him.

"And those words you said to Meiying that day!" she finished shrilly, eyes glassy as marbles as she hugged her knees to her chest.

Cheng blinked. "What words?"

"'If Dre can't beat me in this competition, I'll never let you two be together'," Jiayi said mockingly. "'He needs to win my respect and prove himself'!" She set her chin on her knees. "Sound familiar?"

Cheng was stunned. "You were eavesdropping that day?"

"Maybe," Jiayi grumbled.

Pursing his lips, Cheng exhaled slowly through his nose. "I see how it is."

Brows furrowed suspiciously, Jiayi lifted her head. "What?"

"You don't trust me," Cheng said in an offended tone. "What'd you think was going to happen? That I was going to pounce on Meiying the second we were alone? How _freaking low_ do you think of me?"

At his harsh tone, Jiayi flinched back, recovering almost immediately with a fierce scowl. "What the hell, Cheng, that's not what I meant!"

"It's pretty much what you're implying," Cheng growled.

"Oh, now you react?" Jiayi snarled back. "When I was sharing my feelings and fears with you, 'oh no, who cares, she can't be serious'. But now _I'm_ suddenly the bad guy?"

"So you're saying _I_ was the bad guy before?"

"Getting pretty defensive, eh? Got something to hide? Want to divert the conversation? If you still liked her, then you shouldn't have started anything with me! It's harder to let go once you get a grip of something good!"

"I'm not hiding anything!" Cheng yelled back. "You're just overreacting!"

"_I'm_ overreacting?" Jiayi repeated incredulously.

"Yeah, _you_ are."

"I can't believe you! Even if you didn't still like Meiying—"

"I don't!"

"—your girlfriend just approached you with a problem that was clearly bothering her a lot, and you respond by yelling at her like this? Thanks for taking my feelings into account like a good boyfriend!"

"Well when said girlfriend reveals that she has no trust in me whatsoever, you tend to not care so much anymore! Not only did you eavesdrop on me, which I suppose I could forgive, but you're not believing a word I'm saying right now, are you?"

"I'm mad and I'm hurt! I know what I heard, and I know what I see right now!"

They were shouting into each other's faces by now, on their feet with hands fisted by their sides. Slowly, unnoticed by either teen, the door to the dojo creaked open a crack.

"Then you're stupid and deaf and _freaking blind_!" Cheng roared into her face. "Maybe you're right! Maybe I _should_ just go back to chasing Meiying around like a freaking dog! Will that make you satisfied? Is that what you want to hear from me? Will it make you happy to hear me confess that fine, I _am_ still crushing on Meiying, and I've always liked her _more than I like you_? Is that what you want?"

The moment the words left his lips, he knew he had crossed a line. Liang, who had suddenly appeared beside them, knew it too.

_WHAM!_

Jiayi managed to get one good punch at Cheng's face before Liang had his arms around her waist, pulling her away from Cheng.

"I can't believe you'd say that!" she shrieked, struggling to get out of Liang's viselike grip. Her face was red, her eyes dark, and she nearly elbowed Liang in the face during her struggle.

"Alright," Liang muttered, tucking the furious girl closer, wrapping his arms securely around her and pinning her arms down. "Let's get you out of here before someone says something they'll really regret."

"He already has!" Jiayi shouted, glaring at Cheng, but she stopped struggling, allowing Liang to pull her towards the door of the dojo.

Cheng just scoffed, dropping down to sit on the floor, suddenly very exhausted.

Frozen at the door, Feng and Zhuang stood, stunned and solemn. They parted silently to allow Liang and Jiayi through.

"I'll take Jiayi home," Liang mumbled to them. "Can you guys go and talk to Cheng?"

They nodded, flashing concerned glances at the fuming Jiayi, and disappeared through the door. It swung shut behind them, and it was only then—when it was only her and Liang left—that Jiayi took a deep breath, dissipating the murderous aura she had surrounded herself with. Sensing that she wasn't going to fight anymore, Liang shifted their position.

As they made their way down the street, Jiayi tucked under Liang's protective arm, Liang murmured, "You can stop holding them back now."

Jiayi didn't need any clarification. At his words, the glassy bubbles that her tears had formed in her eyes broke, allowing salty streams to flow down her cheeks. A choked, cracked sound escaped her mouth and she crumpled inward, hiding her face in her hands.

At the sight of her tears—tears of a girl who never cried, who always tried to seek out the positive side of things, who beat up life to a pulp before it could get her down—Liang felt his heart break. Pulling them to the side, in the shadow of a building, he pulled her close for a hug. She latched onto him like a leech, small hands grabbing fistfuls of his shirt.

Rubbing her back soothingly, Liang sighed, "I haven't seen you cry like this since we were, what, ten?"

A broken laugh bubbled from her lips, but the wet spot on his shoulder still grew so Liang just stood there, letting her cry into his shoulder. Her sobs weren't loud or uncontrollable, but the hiccups and soft gasps she emitted were enough to force Liang to close his own eyes in pain.

"I hate him," he heard her mumble at one point. He just hugged her tighter.

After a moment, sooner than he expected, Jiayi's sniffles died down and she stepped back, reaching up to wipe the wetness off her face. Her cheeks were blotchy and flushed, her eyes red and puffy, but she had straightened her back and lifted her chin.

"Okay," she said shakily, taking in a deep breath. "I'm good."

Liang smiled warmly at her, ruffling her hair affectionately. "That's good to hear. Come on." He wrapped his arm around her protectively, his smile widening slightly when she leaned closer. "You still mad at Cheng, or have you cried out all that anger?"

"Still mad," was the clipped response. Liang winced; that wasn't good.

But he just nodded, keeping her tucked to his side as they walked in silence.

"Liang?"

"Yeah?"

"I left my staff back at the dojo."

Liang's lips twitched into a smile. "I'll text Zhuang and tell him to get it when he leaves, okay?"

* * *

Cheng felt like bashing his head against the wall, but he knew that would only add a throbbing head to his problems. Instead, he sprawled on the floor of the nearly empty dojo. Leaning against the wall was Feng with his arms crossed, and standing over Cheng with his hands propped on his hips was Zhuang. Both were silent.

Finally, Zhuang sighed. "How are you going to fix this?"

"_Can_ I fix this?" Cheng responded dully. "Shouldn't _she_ apologize?"

"You're kidding," Zhuang deadpanned. "What's that bruise on your face tell you?"

Grudgingly admitting Zhuang had a point, Cheng brushed his fingers lightly over his cheek, wincing.

"I think you should just let her cool off," Feng said. "You both said some pretty harsh things."

"This is exactly why best friends shouldn't date," Cheng muttered. "If something goes wrong in the relationship, the friendship is messed up too."

"Not always, Cheng," Zhuang said wearily. "Not if you do it right."

Feng pushed off the wall, starting to gather their things. "Just start praying that she'll have cooled off by tomorrow."

* * *

Unfortunately, Jiayi had not 'cooled off by tomorrow'. Far from it, in fact. Having been given the night to replay her fight with Cheng in her head over and over and over again, Jiayi's fury had not decreased in the least. Worse yet, she developed a nasty taste for vengeance—and revenge was one of the things she did best.

Thus, the next morning, when she breezed through the school gates, she sent a friendly wave to her friends—ignoring Cheng—walked past them—ignoring Cheng—and right up to Dre—still ignoring Cheng.

"**Parker,**" she said, putting on her most polite smile when his head snapped up from his conversation with Harry, another American. Both eyed her warily.

"**What do you want?**" Dre asked suspiciously.

"**You want to beat Cheng, right?**" she asked in response. "**I can help you.**"

If Dre and Harry weren't surprised that she'd approached them, their eyebrows shot up and their jaws dropped at her words.

"**Huh?**" Harry said dumbly, stunned.

"**Wait, wait, wait,**" Dre said quickly. "**Why would you want to help me beat your best friend? Slash boyfriend apparently?**"

Her eye twitched at the words 'best friend' and 'boyfriend', but other than that, she kept up her polite smile without a hitch. "**Long story.**"

"**Well, thanks, but no thanks,**" Dre said slowly. "**I've already got Mr. Han anyway.**"

"**Mr. Han has never been in this particular competition,**" Jiayi said smoothly. "**I've made it to at least the semi-finals every year since I was nine. I can give you tips.**"

As if sensing that she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, Dre sighed and shrugged. "**Alright, fine, whatever.**"

"**Meet at park after school then,**" Jiayi said, smiling like a cat who'd caught the mouse.

"**Yeah, sure,**" Dre said, still looking at her suspiciously. Jiayi just nodded and turned, walking towards her friends with a triumphant and smugly satisfied grin at the look of utter shock on Cheng's face.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded.

Jiayi gave him a cool, innocent look. "What am I doing?" She smiled. "Nothing at all."

* * *

**MHJ:** PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! XD But alas, the couple that we all wanted to see together breaks apart after such a short time. Will they get back together? :O Of course! You guys would probably hunt me down and kill me if I didn't make them get back together...lol.

**Super Important Question:** My friend Extreana and I are going to start taking cosplay pics! We have 1 so far, but we can't think of other poses to do. This is where you guys come in! What poses/scenes do you want to see us act out? :)

**Quota:** 15 reviews again. Ttyl~~ :)


	19. The Tournament Begins!

**MHJ:** Do you guys wanna know the song that inspired the fight between Cheng and Jiayi? :) Kelly Clarkson's Let Me Down! It's basically about how the guy lets the girl down. This fits Jiayi's situation since she doesn't think Cheng will ever get over his crush on Meiying, and that disappoints her. Some lines that inspired the fight:

"I can't buy into what you're selling, and no, it's not that I don't want it. Believe me, I'd love to close my eyes, enjoy the ride, but you reek of indecision."

"You're only gonna make me feel so crazy, but when I think we could be something, you go and let me down."

"I want some place to rest my head without worrying. It's not fair...'cause I know by now you're only gonna let me down. When it counts, you countdown. You're only gonna turn me out. As I burn, you burn out."

Who else loves Kelly Clarkson? :D (lol don't hate just because her song inspired Cheng and Jiayi's fight xD)

Oh, and about Liang and Jiayi last chapter, they don't like each other romantically. Lol they're literally just like brother and sister, and what brother wouldn't comfort their sister when her heart was just broken? :O They're as close as twins.

* * *

_Previously..._

_"**You want to beat Cheng, right?**" she asked in response. "**I can help you.**"_

_If Dre and Harry weren't surprised that she'd approached them, their eyebrows shot up and their jaws dropped at her words._

_"**Huh?**" Harry said dumbly, stunned._

_"**Wait, wait, wait,**" Dre said quickly. "**Why would you want to help me beat your best friend? Slash boyfriend apparently?**"_

_Her eye twitched at the words 'best friend' and 'boyfriend', but other than that, she kept up her polite smile without a hitch. "**Long story.**"_

_"**Well, thanks, but no thanks,**" Dre said slowly. "**I've already got Mr. Han anyway.**"_

_"**Mr. Han has never been in this particular competition,**" Jiayi said smoothly. "**I've made it to at least the semi-finals every year since I was nine. I can give you tips.**"_

_As if sensing that she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, Dre sighed and shrugged. "**Alright, fine, whatever.**"_

_"**Meet at park after school then,**" Jiayi said, smiling like a cat who'd caught the mouse._

_"**Yeah, sure,**" Dre said, still looking at her suspiciously. Jiayi just nodded and turned, walking towards her friends with a triumphant and smugly satisfied grin at the look of utter shock on Cheng's face._

_"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded._

_Jiayi gave him a cool, innocent look. "What am I doing?" She smiled. "Nothing at all."_

Chapter 19

"What do you mean you're not coming?"

Jiayi scoffed. "It means that I will be staying home, tucked warmly in bed, and not venturing out to help you hunt down crickets."

"Cut the sass, Jiayi," Cheng snapped from his end. A sigh escaped the phone's speakers. "This is our pre-competition ritual though. You can't just say you don't want to go!"

"I don't want to go," Jiayi said slowly, mockingly.

Cheng made a strange, huffy, choked sound of frustration. "Fine. Have it your way," he said in a clipped, carefully controlled tone. "I'll catch them myself." With that, he hung up.

Rolling her eyes, Jiayi rolled onto her side, tossing her phone lightly onto the carpeted floor before rolling back to her original spot. Burying her face in her blankets, she glared at the wall as if blaming it for all of her frustrations.

Frustration...

"What a perfect word to describe Cheng," she murmured into her blankets. Perhaps it was her own fault for having such high expectations.

Not caring if she was being unreasonable, she ached with hurt and indignant anger that he didn't try harder to convince her into going cricket hunting. After all, like he said, it was their tradition. He was just going to give up after a five-second argument? Didn't it mean more than that? It sure meant a lot to her.

_"What are we doing again?" ten-year-old Cheng asked, sitting up on his knees. He glared across the lawn at Jiayi, crouched in the grass, scanning the ground intently. "I'm tired. Can we go inside now?"_

_She lifted herself up with a sigh, rolling her eyes. "We're looking for crickets!"_

_"Why?" Cheng asked as his friend bent into the grass again, almost lying flat on her stomach. Her hair, starting to get longer, was drawn haphazardly into a ponytail with choppy bangs framing the sides of her face and jutting into her eyes. "The tournament's tomorrow and you want us to catch bugs?"_

_"Not bugs," Jiayi corrected. "Crickets. They bring good luck."_

_Cheng sighed, standing up and brushing himself off. "Even so, do you know how hard it is to catch—"_

_"I got one!" Jiayi's squeal cut in._

_Cheng's eyes widened and he turned to see Jiayi running towards him with cupped hands. "Wha—"_

_"Look," she started to say, holding out her hands, but just then, she stepped on her own shoelace—he always told her to tie her shoes, but she never listened—and, with a yelp, pitched forward right into Cheng._

_"Watch it," he yelped, barely managing to stop her from knocking him over._

_"Sorry," Jiayi giggled, straightening up._

_They froze._

_Having fallen right into Cheng's arms, when Jiayi straightened up, her spiky fringe brushed against Cheng's forehead, their noses touching, lips closer than either cared to be._

_She was about to jump away with a horrified squeal when she noticed his eyes. Had they always been so brown? She'd always assumed they were black, but when up this close, she could clearly tell the pupil from the iris._

_He was about to push her away with a disgusted remark about cooties when he noticed _her_ eyes. He had never cared to really look at her eyes before, but now he knew that they weren't black or even dark brown. Partly obstructed by her spiky side fringe, dark metallic grey eyes peered into his._

_It was roughly two seconds later that either of them moved. Momentarily forgetting the rest of the world, Jiayi let her body relax—including her hands._

_Cheng's ensuing shriek drew them both back to reality._

_With a mighty shove, Cheng sent Jiayi flying away from him, tumbling in the grass. She sat up with an annoyed look, about to yell at him for pushing her so roughly, but a bubble of laughter erupted from her lips instead._

_"You dropped the cricket down my shirt!" Cheng shouted at her as he jumped around, shaking his shirt in hopes that he could make the cricket fall out._

_Three minutes later, the two ten-year-olds sat side-by-side on the couch in Cheng's living room, the cricket locked in a plastic box with air holes punched in the top._

_"Hey Cheng?"_

_"What?"_

_"Did you know that you're my best friend?"_

_"Of course."_

_"Am I your best friend too?"_

_"...Wasn't that obvious?"_

The day their tradition started was one of her favorite childhood memories, one that she liked to look back on every now and then for a chuckle. it had been around that time when she'd first started to like her best friend more than she should, but it was also around then that Cheng began looking at Meiying more closely.

With a sigh, Jiayi mused about how, compared to the situation now, she would gladly return to being just Cheng's best friend, watching as he chased after Meiying.

* * *

Even with the smell of fresh grass tickling his nose and the soft chirping of crickets soothing his ear, Cheng was having difficulties keeping his frustration in. After lying in the grass on his stomach for nearly an hour—much longer than when Jiayi was there to help—just trying to catch those annoyingly elusive crickets, he was just about ready to go crazy.

"Argh!" he finally yelled, sitting up on his knees. Grabbing fistfuls of soft grass, he glared at the ground.

Everything was wrong.

Meiying's parents were no longer angry at Dre. He couldn't catch a freaking cricket. Jiayi wasn't talking to him, always brushing him off with an icy cold demeanor—worse yet, she spent the time she should have been spending with Cheng with _Dre_ instead! That American was just always finding new ways to piss him off.

Yanking up two fistfuls of grass, Cheng gritted his teeth as he recalled the latest incident.

_Cheng was about to open the door to the spare dojo he and his friends frequented in the Fighting Dragon, when he heard it._

_"**If he throws a quick jab to your face, it most likely means he's going to kick right after. So don't sweep the punch upwards or anything. Block downwards or sidestep quickly.**"_

_She wasn't..._

_Pure rage fell across Cheng's face, and he jerked open the door._

_Dre's head immediately swiveled up from where he was sitting on the floor, face shiny with sweat. Jiayi, on the other hand, seated against the wall with her math book in her lap, looked up almost leisurely._

_"You're giving him my secrets now too?" Cheng snarled, disbelief shining in his eyes. "Why don't you just give him the key to my house so he can kill me in my sleep then?"_

_Jiayi rolled her eyes. "Cut the theatrics, Cheng. Dre's got less experience than you, so I'm just leveling the playing field."_

_That's what she'd been saying every time he caught her hanging out with Dre, giving him tips and tricks on surviving in his first tournament, and Cheng was sick of it. He'd thought things couldn't get any worse when she started calling Dre by his first name, then he thought he couldn't get any angrier when he caught her and Dre laughing away in the park, but this..._

_Giving away his secrets was like betrayal._

_"Really?" Cheng demanded. "You're really going to take things this far." It wasn't a question, but a statement, and Jiayi knew it._

_Though he couldn't understand the conversation, the body language and tone Cheng was using was enough for Dre to understand the situation. "**Hey, man, chill. Jiayi's just—**"_

_The withering glare Cheng sent him shut him up almost immediately. The kung fu prodigy had never looked angrier._

_"Fine," Cheng hissed, looking back towards Jiayi. "Have it your way."_

_With that, he turned and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him._

_As he left, he could hear Dre and Jiayi picking up their conversation as if nothing happened, albeit a little uncertainly on Dre's part._

Yanking up two fistfuls of grass, Cheng gritted his teeth as he stood up and jerkily stomped back into his house. Just thinking about Jiayi spending time with Dre made him want to punch something.

* * *

It was Meiying's bright yellow dress that caught Jiayi's attention first.

With curly pigtails gently framing her face, she was positively beaming at Dre, who was surrounded with three more of his friends. The friends looked up first as she approached—Harry with his white blonde hair, Jake with his honey blonde locks, and Li with his mohawk.

Jake looked a little apprehensive at her, but Harry and Li offered friendly smiles.

"**Hey Dre,**" Jiayi said with a grin. "**And everyone else.**"

Dre turned and returned her grin. "**Sup, Jiayi.**" They bumped fists. "**Wow, that's some...bright red.**"

Jiayi looked down at herself, clad in the bright red and black uniform of the Fighting Dragon. It fit her snugly, and for once, she actually looked like the kung fu prodigy she was. Looking back up, she shrugged. "**The Fighting Dragon likes to stand out. We've practically owned this competition for years.**"

"**Bet Dre here will give you guys a run for your money,**" Harry laughed.

Suddenly, Meiying launched herself at Jiayi, pulling the surprised girl into a tight hug. "Thank you so much for the training you gave Dre."

"No worries," Jiayi replied, awkwardly patting Meiying on the back. The girl let go sheepishly.

Glancing over her shoulder at the corner where a group of boys in identical red uniforms was gathering, she smiled. "**Well, I better get going before Master Li notices me talking with the competition.**"

"Your master is the scariest person I've ever seen," Li remarked, shuddering for emphasis.

"You're telling me?" Jiayi scoffed. Glancing at Dre, she grinned. "**Good luck.**"

"**You too**," he replied before turning back to his friends.

Cheng was already glaring by the time Jiayi pranced up to her friends.

"I'm going to take so much pleasure in beating that kid," he muttered, shooting Jiayi a dirty look.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Catch a cricket last night, Cheng? No? Yeah, I didn't think so."

Liang sighed, stepping between them before a fight could break out. "Okay, guys, channel the energy into your matches, alright?"

* * *

So channel it, they did.

Master Li watched with a sadistic, satisfied smirk as his top students brutally slaughtered their opponents.

He smiled when Cheng sent out a mercilessly heavy barrage of punches before finishing with a strong kick to the face.

He smiled when Jiayi grabbed hold of her opponent's arms for leverage as she jumped up and slammed both feet into his chest.

He smiled when Liang hopped upon his opponent's shoulders, twisting downwards until the boy had flipped over, throat trapped between Liang's shins, and was tapping the floor in surrender.

What Master Li didn't like, however, was the fact that Dre was steadily moving up the ladder. How talented was this mysterious Mr. Han if his pupil excelled so much in such a short amount of time?

His students bristled every time one of their own was taken down by another dojo.

Jiayi growled when Zhuang was taken down by a boy dressed in a sleeveless blue uniform.

"Mohawk guy's going down," she growled, stepping onto the mat.

Meanwhile, Qing shook his shoulders, walking out to meet Dre.

The Fighting Dragon won against the mohawk guy, but lost to Dre.

"Fighting Dragon is owning the competition again," Liang remarked with a smirk during the short break as the tournament staff set up the arena for the finals.

Jiayi laughed. "As usual."

"I can't believe I lost to Dre," Qing moaned, nervously glancing at Master Li.

"If it makes you feel better," Zhuang mumbled, massaging his cheek. "At least you didn't lose to a guy with a mohawk."

"That guy was surprisingly good," Jiayi added, touching her shoulder, where the mohawk boy had landed a solid hit. "If only he was part of our dojo."

"Thanks for putting in extra hurt on that guy for me," Zhuang snickered, remembering how the referee had to physically drag away mohawk boy's unconscious body away at one point to avoid his head being smashed in by Jiayi's fist.

Feng sighed. "At least we all made it past our first matches. Lots of the other kids lost their first fights."

"Must have been horribly disappointing for them," Liang sighed.

Feng clicked his tongue. "Well, they would've lost eventually. The Fighting Dragon's reached the finals every year." He sighed. "And once again, most of us didn't even make it to the semi-finals."

"Cheng, Jiayi, and Liang were our aces anyway," Xiang laughed, clapping Feng on the back.

"Who do you think's going to win this year?" Qing asked.

Feng shrugged. "Who knows?"

"I'm betting on Jiayi. She won last year, after all," Qing announced. Jiayi laughed, ruffling his hair.

Zhuang shook his head. "Nah, it's going to be Cheng. He wins most often."

Cheng, who had been pretending to not be listening, smirked.

"I agree with Qing," Xiang said.

Liang pouted. "Thanks for the confidence in me, guys."

They all laughed.

"No offense," Xiang laughed. "It's just that those two have so much tension between them. A fight might be just what they need."

Feng chuckled. "If it helps, Liang, I'm betting on you this year."

"I'm flattered," Liang said, clasping his hands to his chest.

Suddenly, Zhuang noticed Cheng slinking off. "Hey, Cheng, where're you going?"

"Water," came the curt response.

Cheng sighed as the noise of the tournament faded slightly when he entered one of the rooms connected to the main arena. Grabbing a spare water bottle from the pile on the table, he broke the seal on the cap and quickly downed nearly a third of it in two gulps.

"**Cheng, we need to talk.**"

Cheng stiffened. There was only one person in the competition who would use English to speak with him. Glare already in place before he turned around, he capped his water bottle and growled, "**What do you want, Parker? Begging for mercy before I kick your ass in the tournament?**"

Dre didn't even flinch.

"**Look,**" he said, seeming as if he were trying to be patient. "**I don't know you or your friends very well, but I'm telling you that you need to treat Jiayi better.**"

Cheng felt like he'd been slapped, followed shortly by a furious burn. Who was this American to tell him to treat his friends better? What the hell did he know?

As if sensing Cheng's oncoming explosion, Dre quickly continued, "**She's not the nicest girl I've met, but Meiying tells me that she can be a great person when she wants to be. And she's been pretty decent to me this past week and a half, so I ain't too keen on seeing her suffer from being with a guy like you.**"

That was it.

Before Dre could even blink, Cheng had grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the wall, fists so tight that his knuckles turned white.

"**What the hell do you know?**" Cheng hissed. "**Jiayi—**"

"**I know enough!**" Dre snarled back. "**While she trained me, Jiayi ranted a lot about you. So therefore, to answer your fucking question, _I know a lot_. I know that you liked Meiying, and that's why you hated me! I also know that even though you supposedly don't like Meiying anymore, you still want to beat me to a pulp. Well, fine! If that's what'll make you happy, then you can beat me to a pulp. Just not at the tournament okay? I promise you can come at me with whatever you've got anytime, anywhere after the tournament!**"

His words stunned Cheng enough that his grip slackened. Then, as if realizing the fact, Cheng suddenly scowled and tightened his grip, slamming Dre into the wall a couple more times for good measure. "**What, too afraid of public humiliation?**" he bent his face closer, glaring into Dre's eyes. "**I want you to be humiliated. It seems like you've ruined everything for me since you arrived. First Meiying, who I don't care about anymore, but now you've torn Jiayi away from me too, and that's something I can't forgive! I—**"

"**That's the thing!**" Dre shouted. "**I'm trying to be the mature adult here and _help_ you even if all _you've_ done to_ me_ so far is attempt to ruin my life!**"

"**How the hell is not pounding you into dust in front of thousands of people going to help me?**" Cheng shouted back.

"**What's more important to you? Jiayi or the tournament?**"

Cheng's grip slackened completely as he stared at Dre. What did Jiayi have anything to do with the tournament? He won almost every year and he wasn't about to let Dre win at Cheng's own game.

"**What?**" he finally asked.

Dre rolled his eyes. "**Jiayi has somehow got it in her head that this tournament determines who wins Meiying's heart. To her, you and I aren't battling for the first-place trophy. She thinks we're fighting for Meiying here.**"

Cheng's hands slipped away from Dre's collar completely as he backed away. He shook his head, in denail, in confusion. "**That's ridiculous. I'm over Meiying. I just want to beat you.**"

"**And _I'm_ just trying to win some respect,**" Dre said exasperatedly. He sent Cheng, who was looking incredibly confused, an almost sympathetic look. "**Just thought I should let you know so Jiayi won't have to suffer anymore.**"

With that, Dre left, brushing by Liang, who had appeared at the doorway.

Glancing at Dre's back, Liang stepped into the room, concerned. "You okay, Cheng? I was coming for some water when I heard shouting."

Cheng sucked in a deep breath before looking up, stunned. "I think...I think I finally get it."

'_I can't believe I'm saying this,_' he thought, collapsing back against the wall with another sigh. '_But thank you, Dre. You might not be _that_ bad after all..._'

* * *

**MHJ:** Lol so yeah, the anime picture of Cheng and Jiayi as kids inspired the cricket scene. If you wanna know what I'm talking about, go check out my tumblr! And about Hui and Mengyao, I couldn't figure out how to fit them in so I'll just put them into an omake or something lol.

**Super Important Question:** Last chapter, I asked you about what types of cosplay pictures you want to see. Now I'm gonna ask you guys what sort of omake scenes you want to see. :) To those of you who don't know, omakes are like bonus scenes. What do you guys want to see? :)

**Question #2:** What'd you guys think of the chapter? :) Did you like it? My favorite part to write was the confrontation between Dre and Cheng at the end! ^_^ Hbu?

**Quota:** 15 as usual lol. Seeya guys tomorrow most likely! :D


	20. Master's Orders

**MHJ:** I looked at the last chapter and I must say I'm stumped. How did you guys know that the story was wrapping up? xD Too smarht you guys! lol Anyways, don't worry, this is _not_ the last chapter! There's an epilogue to show what happens after the tournament.

Btw has anyone seen the original Karate Kid? Extreana and I have never seen it, but we stumbled upon some pictures of Chozen (original Karate Kid version of Cheng) the other day. MY GOSH HE'S HANDSOME O.O I really wanna watch the original Karate Kid now lol. Why do the bad guys always look so attractive? XD

* * *

_Previously..._

_"**What's more important to you? Jiayi or the tournament?**"_

_Cheng's grip slackened completely as he stared at Dre. What did Jiayi have anything to do with the tournament? He won almost every year and he wasn't about to let Dre win at Cheng's own game._

_"**What?**" he finally asked._

_Dre rolled his eyes. "**Jiayi has somehow got it in her head that this tournament determines who wins Meiying's heart. To her, you and I aren't battling for the first-place trophy. She thinks we're fighting for Meiying here.**"_

_Cheng's hands slipped away from Dre's collar completely as he backed away. He shook his head, in denail, in confusion. "**That's ridiculous. I'm over Meiying. I just want to beat you.**"_

_"**And**_**I'm**_** just trying to win some respect,**" Dre said exasperatedly. He sent Cheng, who was looking incredibly confused, an almost sympathetic look. "**Just thought I should let you know so Jiayi won't have to suffer anymore.**"_

_With that, Dre left, brushing by Liang, who had appeared at the doorway._

_Glancing at Dre's back, Liang stepped into the room, concerned. "You okay, Cheng? I was coming for some water when I heard shouting."_

_Cheng sucked in a deep breath before looking up, stunned. "I think...I think I finally get it."_

'I can't believe I'm saying this,' _he thought, collapsing back against the wall with another sigh_. 'But thank you, Dre. You might not be _that_ bad after all...'

Chapter 20

The team looked up when Cheng and Liang returned.

"They announced the semi-final match ups," Qing exclaimed excitedly.

"Dre's chances at winning just went down the drain," Zhuang said cheerfully. "Liang's going to beat him for sure."

"His chances were in the drain originally," Feng laughed. Nonetheless, he clapped Liang on the shoulder. "Make us proud, Liang."

Liang grinned and was about to respond when Master Li suddenly approached them.

"Jiayi, Cheng, you two will be fighting first," Master Li said in his usual growl. They nodded, assuming there was nothing more to say, but their master beckoned Jiayi closer. Cautiously, she inched towards him until she was standing directly before him. "Jiayi, you are to allow Cheng to win and advance to the finals."

They all looked up in shock.

Jiayi herself looked appalled by the order. "What? I can't just _let_ him win!"

Master Li glowered down at her, his expression threatening corporal punishment if she didn't heed his order. "You can, and you will. I want Cheng to hold that trophy before that maintenance man's eyes."

Jiayi didn't seem to notice the hidden threat in her master's face. Angrily, she argued, "I want to fight him fairly though! You can't just—"

"I can," Master Li hissed. "Now you will do as your master says!"

"But—"

_SLAP!_

Jiayi's head cracked to the side, and she stumbled, just barely stabilized by Cheng. The few spectators in the audience near them who'd caught the slap gasped, and several masters from the other dojos stiffened at the sight of a teacher hitting a student. Alarmed murmurs started amongst the nearby dojos' students.

"You will do as I say. Am I understood?" Master Li hissed, oblivious to the reactions of the other masters.

With a hand to her inflamed cheek, Jiayi shut her mouth and nodded, bowing her head slightly. "Yes sir."

"Good. Now both of you get up there."

Without further argument, Jiayi and Cheng raced away, barreling up the steps to the platform.

"You okay?" Cheng murmured as they took their places across from each other.

Jiayi nodded, rolling her shoulders back. "I'll be fine."

As if their anger towards each other had been dissipated when Master Li gave Jiayi his order, they slammed their fists together and bowed deeply in respect. The referee called for them to begin, and Jiayi lunged forward.

Her fists flew out, followed by kicks and knees and elbows, all of which were easily dodged and deflected by Cheng. Making sure to leave plenty of holes in her form, Jiayi continued her assault until Cheng took advantage of one of the holes.

Ducking a kick, he caught her leg on his shoulder and threw her over.

"Point!" the referee yelled, and the two backed away from each other. "Begin!"

Twice more, Jiayi attacked, leaving holes for Cheng to score easy victories. The third time she was slammed down, the referee announced, "Cheng advances to the Finals!"

Wheezing slightly from the last kick Cheng had landed on her, Jiayi accepted the referee's hand in helping her get up. Cheng approached her then, looping one of her arms over his shoulders as he brought her back to their team.

"Sorry," Cheng said after Jiayi regained her breath and stood up on her own.

"Doesn't matter," she responded lifelessly. Qing shifted to the side, allowing her to sit between him and Liang.

"Liang," Master Li said before the boy could go up for his match. "Come here."

Panic flashed in Liang's eyes as he got up and moved towards his master, and the gang exchanged nervous glances, wondering what Liang was going to be ordered to do.

"Break him."

Jaws dropped in shock.

Liang felt his mouth go dry. "But Master, I can beat him!"

Master Li bent down to his level of height, face darkening even further, threatening the same punishment Jiayi had received. "I don't want him beaten, I want him broken. Understood?"

The rest of the team looked on in silence as Liang, looking painfully torn for a moment, screwed his eyes shut and nodded. "Yes sir."

With a deep frown set in his face, he left the group, walking up the stage where Dre was waiting on the platform.

Then, in front of thousands of people, in front of his friends and classmates and family, a look of pain flashed across his face just before he sprang forward, throwing Dre onto his back before grabbing his leg and driving his fist into the side of his knee. A loud crack sounded and Dre cried out in pain.

A whistle was blown and Liang was immediately disqualified.

When everyone's attention focused onto the injured Dre, who was carried out immediately, Liang wiped his nose and bowed his head ever-so-slightly in Dre's direction before he returned to his team. Tears of shame glistened in his eyes, looking ready to spill out if he so much as blinked.

His friends crowded around him, growing even more concerned when he refused to look any of them in the eye.

"You okay?" Qing asked gently. Liang scoffed, and Jiayi gently shoved Feng and Xiang aside so she could wrap her arms around Liang comfortingly. He didn't budge, still averting his eyes ashamedly. After she let him go, he moved to the wall where he could sit, forgotten and ignored by the audience. Silently, his friends sat around him, providing comfort with their presence. On either side of Liang, Qing and Jiayi wrapped their arms around their friend's shoulders. It was then that a tear slipped down Liang's face, but he quickly rubbed it away.

Master Li, ignoring his solemn students, grinned at the exit Dre had disappeared through. "That should ensure victory for us."

Even though he had wanted Dre to suffer, Cheng clenched his fists in anger.

This wasn't what he wanted.

* * *

"If Dre Parker does not return to the mat in two minutes," the announcer said, his voice booming. "He will be disqualified and Cheng will win by default."

Master Li smirked at that while Cheng glared down at the floor. This wasn't how the tournament was supposed to turn out. He shouldn't have been standing there, practically unscratched from the Semi-Finals. Jiayi should have been given a fair shot. Dre shouldn't have been with the paramedics; Liang shouldn't have been forced to take extremes. _They all should have been given a fair chance._

From the corner of his eyes, Cheng glared at his master, flicking his eyes back down before the man could notice. Shifting his weight, Cheng glanced back towards his team, locking eyes almost immediately with Jiayi.

She looked sad as she stared unblinkingly at Cheng. Before he could offer a smile to tell her wordlessly that it was alright, that he understood her fears and worries now and no, he wasn't fighting for Meiying. He was fighting for himself, for the pride of their dojo, for _her_ because Dre stole all of that away when he began training in Cheng's art, when he beat Zhuang, when he stole _her_ away. Despite all these reasons to keep fighting, he had no real reason to win.

He wanted to tell her that no tournament was worth giving her up.

She looked down, spiky bangs hiding her eyes, before he could tell her all of that.

His heart ached and he suddenly missed her _so, so much_—missed her smile, missed her laugh, missed her teasing. Distantly, he heard the announcer say something—had it been two minutes already? Was Dre out of the competition? Just then, the crowd lurched to its feet, cheering and clapping, and Cheng zoned back into reality.

To his shock and—though it was almost painful to admit—awe, Dre was limping his way to the mat, a determined expression on his flushed face.

"**Don't think too badly of Liang,**" Cheng whispered lowly as Dre hobbled past him. The boy made no indication that he had heard, but Cheng knew that he did. "**It was an order from our master.**"

"**Did he order Jiayi to lose too?**" Dre asked, barely moving his lips as they bowed to each other.

"**How'd you know?**" Cheng asked, just loud enough for Dre to hear as he inched closer, fists up and ready.

"**The holes in her form were so obvious, even _I_ saw them,**" Dre responded.

Cheng threw a haphazard glance back to his team, to Jiayi.

No tournament was worth her.

"**You'll be seeing a lot more holes right now,**" he said grimly.

Then, before Dre could question it, Cheng leapt with a kick.

He used all of his usual tricks, confident that Jiayi had already alerted Dre to them, and just as he expected, the less-experienced boy was dodging them all comfortably.

He nearly cursed out loud when one of his kicks landed on Dre's chest, sending him flying off the platform.

'_Shit, I thought he would be able to dodge that_,' he moaned in his mind. As Dre climbed back onto the mat, Cheng sighed, '_Better tone things down a bit._'

Trying harder to make the holes in his form more obvious, Cheng leapt again.

No tournament was worth her.

Dre managed to spot a hole and successfully lashed out, sending Cheng sprawling onto his back. He took his time in getting up, giving Dre the opportunity to sprint forward, shove him down, and punch him in the face. A point was called, and the referee pulled Cheng to the side, checking his face.

The next point was scored much more quickly—just a simple flip of Cheng's body over Dre's shoulder.

As they faced off for the third and final match point, Cheng snuck another glance at his team.

Jiayi was staring back, eyes wide and shiny. When she caught his gaze, he gave her a small smile and turned back to Dre, who was watching him with an unreadable look.

No tournament was worth her.

"Begin!"

Deciding to go with the easiest route, Cheng charged forward and leapt up, arms up and away from his body, posed for a punch while leaving his sides vulnerable. Understanding flashing in Dre's eyes, the boy hid a smile before slipping forward, lashing out at Cheng's exposed side with a foot.

And just like that, the match was over.

The audience erupted into screams and cheers for the rookie newcomer that had defeated the long-seated champs. With a shocked but satisfied grin on his face, the announcer declared Dre the winner and started walking towards him with the first place trophy in his arms.

Knowing that in Jiayi's mind, that trophy was the symbolic equivalent of Meiying, Cheng quickly intercepted the announcer's path. "Can I give it to him?"

The announcer looked at him funnily before his expression softened, and he handed the trophy over, patting Cheng on the shoulder with a proud smile.

Cheng took it gingerly, not even taking the time to admire it before he handed it to Dre with a smile that transmitted both his apology and his thankfulness. Dre grinned back as he accepted the trophy, smile widening when Cheng reached out to clap him on the shoulder.

Eager to return to his team, Cheng turned and had just barely made it down the stairs when Jiayi tackled him, nearly knocking him over as she locked her arms tightly around his neck.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she sobbed, a few tears slipping from her eyes to be absorbed into the fabric covering Cheng's shoulders. "I'm sorry for not believing you! I'm sorry I was such a whiny bitch! I'm sorry—"

"Shut up," Cheng said, gladly hugging her back equally tightly. "I'm sorry I was so dense. You were right, I should have taken your feelings into account. I'm sorry for treating your fears and insecurities like they were jokes."

Sniffing, Jiayi grinned as she pulled away, wiping her tears away. Then, she hooked a hand on Cheng's neck, pulling him down to meet her lips for a searing kiss. It lasted no more than a second, but it made up for the week their fight had lasted.

"I'm sorry you had to lose the tournament just for me to open my eyes," Jiayi laughed, suddenly feeling light again.

Cheng hugged her again. "No tournament's worth losing you."

At that point, Feng cleared his throat. "As touching as this reunion is, Master Li's coming and he doesn't look very happy."

Jiayi let go of Cheng, standing beside him instead. Behind them, Qing, Zhuang, Feng, Xiang, and even Liang—eyes red from holding back his own tears—gathered around them supportively, steeling themselves as Master Li walked up to Cheng. He gave an involuntary shiver at the murderous look on his teacher's face, but relaxed slightly when Jiayi squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"You little—" Master Li growled, his words coming out choked, as if he still had trouble comprehending what had just happened. "You just—utter disgrace—lose purposely—think I wouldn't notice?"

His words, disconnected by his anger, lashed out at Cheng like a whip, and he fought back a flinch each time. Finally, it seemed as if Master Li could not get any angrier. Face tight with fury, he lifted his hand, eyes glaring down at Cheng.

_SLAP!_

Cheng blinked; Master Li blinked. The gang stared in shock.

Jaw set defiantly, Jiayi straightened up, cheek flaming red again. Standing protectively in front of Cheng, she glared back at Master Li, daring him to try again.

"What the hell are you doing?" Cheng hissed, knowing that selfless acts only made Master Li angrier.

Jiayi just smiled, unflinching as Master Li's face grew even redder with rage.

As he lifted his hand again, however, Cheng grabbed Jiayi's arm, pulling her behind him. What kind of boyfriend would he be if he let his girlfriend take his punishment for him?

Master Li's hand swung down, and Cheng he steeled himself for the hit.

Before Master Li's hand could make contact, however, an old hand grabbed his wrist.

"Enough!" Mr. Han said firmly, glaring at Master Li, whose eyes were practically bugging out of his head. "Enough."

Cheng and Jiayi exchanged glances and quickly backed away with the rest of the gang, all of them watching the two masters before them. Suddenly, Master Li struck out at the maintenance man, and immediately, the area around them erupt into shouts. Cameras swiveled around to tape the two masters going at each other.

"They're equally matched," Xiang murmured.

Liang shook his head. "No, Mr. Han isn't fighting back yet."

Just then, the maintenance man hopped into the stands, weaving through the audience gently. Much less courteous, Master Li followed, shoving away those in his path. At one point, a young boy in a brown jacket was almost knocked headfirst out of the stands, but Mr. Han managed to catch him and haul him back up just in time.

"Move aside! Move aside!" Mr. Han shouted, jumping off the stands and trying to get people to clear a space so that they wouldn't get hurt.

"**Mr. Han**!" Dre shouted, forgotten up on the platform. "**Stop**!"

The two masters continued fighting anyway, moving towards the evacuated bench area. Clearly caught up in his fury, Master Li grabbed a wooden bench and lobbed it at Mr. Han, who barely managed to deflect it and prevent it from hitting any innocent bystanders. While the maintenance man was occupied, Master Li grabbed a second bench and hurled that too, but Mr. Han managed to catch it by its front two legs.

Then, grabbing onto another bench, Master Li charged, and the two masters began fighting and blocking with the benches held before them. It was only seconds later when Mr. Han managed to disarm Master Li's bench and trap the Fighting Dragon's top master beneath the bench.

Slowly, the Fighting Dragon team approached with wide eyes and slack jaws. "Master?"

It was unclear whether they were addressing Master Li or Mr. Han, but Mr. Han looked over before getting up, releasing Master Li. Good-naturedly, Mr. Han grabbed Master Li's hand and pulled him up. He stumbled forward before catching his balance, coincidentally coming face-to-face with Jiayi, who couldn't help but squeak in surprise and hurriedly step back.

Just as everything seemed to have calmed down, Master Li roared and sent his foot flying back, catching Mr. Han's stomach and pitching the man into a rack of weapons. Bringing his shoulders to his ears, the old man slipped between two of the weapons, landing on a padded red mat. With three quick jabs, Master Li knocked three of the weapons over, forcing Mr. Han to roll as fast as he could to the side in order to avoid being hit by the blades at the tip of the poles.

The fight continued onto the wooden platform where the gong was situated, and it was almost ten seconds later when Mr. Han managed to knock Master Li back right off the platform and onto a padded mat. Before he could get back up, Mr. Han leapt off, landing on Master Li's chest.

With his legs locking Master Li's arms down, Mr. Han straddled his chest, a fist at the ready as he glared with all his might down at Master Li. "Do not stop when our enemy is down. No mercy. No mercy in the studio. No mercy in competition." His old voice was rough with anger as he mocked Master Li with his own teachings. "No mercy especially in life! Our enemy deserves pain."

Despite all his anger, the old man's fist still trembled at his side.

Suddenly, he heard a young voice say something behind him, and he turned to see Qing staring at him with the rest of the Fighting Dragon team beside him.

Probably the one who received the most hits and slaps in class for his tendency to bestow mercy, Qing glared at Mr. Han and Master Li. Finally, there was someone who could give Master Li a taste of his own medicine. Angry and sore at all the memories he had of his master slapping him just because he didn't want to be excessively cruel, Qing gritted his teeth and yelled, "Finish him!"

Suddenly, another voice drew Mr. Han's attention—one much calmer. He looked up to see Dre looking down at him from the platform set up for the Finals.

"**No, Mr. Han**," Dre said calmly. "**No.**"

Slowly, Mr. Han nodded, nearly stumbling as he got up and stepped over Master Li to meet Dre at the stairs to the platform. Unsteadily, Dre hopped down with injured legs, looking down at Master Li as he passed. Before he and Mr. Han could walk past the Fighting Dragon team, however, Cheng stepped in their path.

Respect shining in his face, Cheng slammed his fist into his hand in a sign of respect—and immediately, the entire team lined up behind him, their own hands slammed together. In unison, they bowed deeply.

With a surprised, soft smile, Mr. Han returned the sign, clapping them each on the shoulder before turning and leading his star pupil away.

As the maintenance man hobbled away, the team sighed in unison.

"He should've punched Master Li," Zhuang mused regrettably, moving aside for who he assumed to be Dre's mother to walk by, followed by Meiying, who gave them all soft smiles.

"Damn right he should have!" Qing whined unhappily. "He's always slapping us around, especially me! I just want someone to give him a good punch! That's all I ask!"

Dre's mother must have heard his wish; if the fact that Master Li hit his students regularly didn't move her heart, the sight of cute little Qing complaining sure did. Even though her Chinese was still a little fuzzy, she had a pretty good idea at what poor Qing was talking about.

"**Hold this for a second,**" she said, handing Dre's trophy to Meiying. Then, she turned and marched up to Master Li, who was starting to stand up. "**Hey.**"

When he turned to look at her, she slammed her fist into his cheek, shaking out the numbness that settled in her hand immediately after. Then, with a cheery smile, she turned back to the team and Meiying.

"**You guys should get a new master,**" she said to the team, who stared at her with immense awe. She grinned. "**Maybe you all could give Mr. Han a try.**"

With that, she and Meiying left, rushing to catch up with Dre and Mr. Han.

"That's not a bad idea," Feng remarked as the gang moved along with the crowd.

Xiang scoffed. "If he'll even accept us as students."

"Well, we'll be needing a new master either way," Zhuang said.

Qing nodded. "Yeah, imagine how Master Li's going to torture us if we show up in his class again."

"Assuming he's not fired," Feng interjected.

Liang sighed. "Either way, my _parents_ are probably going to torture me. I still can't believe I did that."

"Cheer up," Feng said sympathetically. "Now that everyone knows how brutal Master Li is, I'm sure they'll be more concerned over whether or not he's ever hit you before."

"Yeah," Qing and Xiang agreed.

"They'll blame Master Li for the incident in the semi-finals," Zhuang assured him, clapping his friend on the back. "I guarantee it!"

Meanwhile, Jiayi and Cheng fell back, clutching each other's hands tightly.

"So," Cheng said, grinning at Jiayi. It felt nice being able to hold her hand again. "We both lost the tournament. I think we could both use some cheering up. Shall we go out for dinner?"

Jiayi grinned back. "I think the entire gang deserves some cheering up. We put Feng through this torture before; think it's our turn to have the gang tag along on our date?"

"We better catch up with them before they leave then," Cheng chuckled.

Hands locked together tightly, they laughed and started weaving through the crowd toward their friends.

The gang reacted as they thought they would—happy and enthusiastic and glad that everything had returned to normal at last. After exchanging their things for a few hundred yuan from their parents, they threw their arms around each other as they walked down the sidewalk in search of a restaurant.

As they walked and chatted and laughed, Cheng smiled.

He had finally figured out the roles of the gang.

Feng and Xiang were the older brothers, always keeping a watchful eye out for the others. Zhuang was the middle child, eager to tease his brothers and sister to no end. Qing was the hyper little brother they all looked out for. Jiayi and Liang were the twins, practically able to read each other's minds.

Cheng had been the only one without a role—until that moment, when he realized that he was Jiayi's complement. While he tended to cage his feelings in, she allowed hers to soar free. While he was easily angered, easily downhearted, she looked for the bright side of things, smiling through the tough times if not for herself then for those around her. While he relied on straightforward intimidation and brute strength, she excelled in her quick tongue and ability to dance circles around others.

One could say they differed like night and day, like salt and pepper, like black and white—but the truth of the matter was that they belonged together like a needle and thread, like pen and paper, like thunder and lightning. Together, they made a whole.

After all, it was said that love was just one soul in two bodies.

* * *

**MHJ:** Yay! Happy ending! ^_^ But don't freak out! It's not over yet! :) There's still an epilogue coming along after this!

Now that we're only waiting for the epilogue, I have an important question for you all! Lots of you added me to your Author Alerts so I know some of you would be interested in this question at least. xD What sort of stories do you want me to write next? :) Do you guys wanna see another OC love story? ^_^

I've been thinking of writing a Naruto fanfic in which the main characters are OCs. I dunno what I would call it yet but it's about a kunoichi and a civilian that hates shinobi falling in love teehee. Or I could write a GaaraOC or a KibaOC or a SasoriOC...It really depends I guess lol. I'm not limited to only Naruto fanfics either :) Review or PM me if you have any requests and I'll consider it~ ^_^


	21. Epilogue

**MHJ:** My apologies for the lateness! This past week, I've been super busy and then I got really sick for the past few days. I finally sweat my fever out yesterday and all that's left is a really sore throat, but that's good enough for me to write! :D I'm afraid there's not much fluff though since it's an epilogue for the whole story and not just for Jiayi and Cheng. Hopefully you guys enjoy it anyways! :)

* * *

_Previously..._

_"So," Cheng said, grinning at Jiayi. It felt nice being able to hold her hand again. "We both lost the tournament. I think we could both use some cheering up. Shall we go out for dinner?"_

_Jiayi grinned back. "I think the entire gang deserves some cheering up. We put Feng through this torture before; think it's our turn to have the gang tag along on our date?"_

_"We better catch up with them before they leave then," Cheng chuckled._

_Hands locked together tightly, they laughed and started weaving through the crowd toward their friends._

_The gang reacted as they thought they would—happy and enthusiastic and glad that everything had returned to normal at last. After exchanging their things for a few hundred yuan from their parents, they threw their arms around each other as they walked down the sidewalk in search of a restaurant._

_As they walked and chatted and laughed, Cheng smiled._

_He had finally figured out the roles of the gang._

_Feng and Xiang were the older brothers, always keeping a watchful eye out for the others. Zhuang was the middle child, eager to tease his brothers and sister to no end. Qing was the hyper little brother they all looked out for. Jiayi and Liang were the twins, practically able to read each other's minds._

_Cheng had been the only one without a role—until that moment, when he realized that he was Jiayi's complement. While he tended to cage his feelings in, she allowed hers to soar free. While he was easily angered, easily downhearted, she looked for the bright side of things, smiling through the tough times if not for herself then for those around her. While he relied on straightforward intimidation and brute strength, she excelled in her quick tongue and ability to dance circles around others._

_One could say they differed like night and day, like salt and pepper, like black and white—but the truth of the matter was that they belonged together like a needle and thread, like pen and paper, like thunder and lightning. Together, they made a whole._

_After all, it was said that love was just one soul in two bodies._

Epilogue

It hardly ceased to astound Dre how quickly things could change.

Qing. Liang. Zhuang. Feng. Xiang. Jiayi. Cheng.

A mere month ago, those seven names made his blood run cold, struck raw fear in his mind, sent a string of curses running through his head. Never in his wildest imagination would he have expected that the people he used to fear and hate would become some of his closest friends.

"**Do you want to go out for dinner tonight?**" Meiying asked as she and Dre stepped out into the courtyard.

Dre shook his head apologetically. "**Sorry, but Mr. Han will be training me and the gang tonight. The new master at the Fighting Dragon's letting Mr. Han use her dojo once a week to teach us.**"

Rather than looking disappointed, Meiying smiled. "**I'm so glad you guys are all getting along.**"

"**Me too**," Dre laughed. "**You were right; they actually aren't that bad. I like them.**"

"**That's good to hear**," Meiying chuckled. "**Have fun then. I'll see you tomorrow?**"

"**Yeah, seeya**," Dre said, waving as Meiying ran off towards her father's car.

Once she was gone, he turned towards the tree the gang usually collected under. Walking towards it, he caught sight of Qing and Liang already sprawled out beneath it.

"**Hey Dre!**" Qing called, waving enthusiastically.

Dre grinned and waved back. "**Sup guys.**"

"**Feng, Zhuang, and Xiang won't be meeting us today,**" Liang informed him. "**They have big project. But they'll be at kung fu.**"

"**Alright**," Dre said, nodding and taking a seat beside the two. "**Jiayi and Cheng not here yet?**"

Qing and Liang exchanged evil grins.

"**Maybe they're**—" Qing began devilishly.

"—**kissing in the hall**," Liang finished, snickering.

Dre, already used to the gang's habit of teasing those in relationships—namely Feng, Cheng, and Jiayi—just rolled his eyes. "**Right—hey, I see them!**"

Qing and Liang followed Dre's pointed finger to see Jiayi racing towards them, holding a rolled up piece of paper in her hand. A wide grin was on her face and an angry, red-faced Cheng chased after her.

"**Guys**!" she cried as she reached them. With a flourish, she unrolled the paper, exhibiting a quiz with a bold eighty written in bright red. "**Look at Cheng's score!**"

At that moment, Cheng caught up and snatched the paper back, scowling heavily as Qing and Liang burst out laughing.

"**Eighty**?" Qing howled.

Liang jabbed a finger in Cheng's direction. "**Master Kong is not going to be pleased.**"

Whenever Dre was in their midst, the gang always tried to communicate with only English. That way, Dre could understand and the gang could practice their foreign language skills. There were times, however, that the gang simply forgot and reverted back to their native tongue.

"Yeah, Master Kong doesn't tolerate academic deficiency, mister," Jiayi teased, tauntingly wagging a finger disapprovingly in Cheng's face.

"She doesn't need to_ know_ about my academic deficiency," Cheng growled. "Besides, it's all your fault I got this grade anyway!"

"My fault? How so?"

"You kept distracting me while I was trying to study, you poor excuse of a best friend!"

"Oh? I seem to recall that you were quite eager to stop studying in order to hang out with me."

"Ooh," Qing cut in, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "What were you two _doing_?"

The two in question rolled their eyes simultaneously, chorusing, "Nothing like_ that_, you moron."

Liang, one of the best in the group at English, quickly translated for Dre, who tried to stifle his amusement.

"So what's it going to take for you to keep your mouth shut about my test?" Cheng growled, glaring at Jiayi.

She tapped her chin thoughtfully, a smug smirk on her lips. "Hmm...You can treat the entire gang to a restaurant of _my_ choice."

Qing grinned. "That's a good one, Jiayi."

Cheng bit his lip, eye twitching slightly, before he sighed. "Fine."

Dre arched a brow after Liang translated the last bit for him. "**Why're you so worried about your master finding out about your test, Cheng? I thought Master Li's replacement was nice.**"

The four of them stared at Dre.

"**You're joking, right**?" Liang said slowly.

Qing and Jiayi exploded. "**Master Kong is the most amazing person in the world!**"

Even Cheng just shook his head, sighing.

"**Master Kong is crazy beautiful,**" Jiayi continued, her eyes sparkling as she spoke of her master. "**She's gorgeous and she's the first ever female master at the Fighting Dragon! She's small and skinny like me too, but she's even stronger than Master Li!**"

"**And she's really, really nice!**" Qing added, eyes sparkling as well. "**She never hits or yells at me like Master Li. And there's no more 'no mercy' crap!**"

"**Also**," Liang cut in. "**Before and after class, she's always willing to talk with the students. I've heard her give advice to people before about almost anything! She even helped me with my homework once**."

"**Okay, so**," Dre cut in before anyone else could continue. If anything, he looked even more confused than he did before. "**As great as Master Kong is, why exactly is Cheng so worried about her finding out about his test?**"

"**Master Kong wants her students to be good and diligent in everything they do,**" Liang said.

Jiayi nodded. "**That includes school. She expects us to be good students and get good grades.**"

Dre blinked. "**...So? What's she going to do to Cheng? You said she doesn't hit or yell at people.**"

This time, Cheng answered. Crossing his arms and scowling, he said, "**Master Kong is the nicest kung fu master the Fighting Dragon has ever had. Everyone loves her—**"

"**More like ****_adores_**** her!**" Qing and Jiayi bellowed indignantly.

"**Some more so than others,**" Cheng said, wincing at his friends' volume. "**Anyways, we all like her so much that we just don't want to disappoint her.**"

Dre blinked owlishly again. Then, he promptly burst out laughing. "**Wow. I can't believe I ever thought you guys were tough bad-ass bullies. You all sure are soft on the inside.**"

* * *

"Aren't you kids going home?" Master Kong asked later that day. She had just packed up her own things and found her seven favorite students lingering in the dojo. Before any of them could answer, realization flashed in Master Kong's dark brown eyes. "Oh, right, Master Han is coming today, right?"

"I let the kids call me Mr. Han," an old voice said from the doorway. They all turned to see Dre walking in with Mr. Han hobbling behind him.

Master Kong smiled. "You're a kung fu master. Shouldn't they be referring to you with a little more respect than that?"

At that, Jiayi, Qing, and—surprisingly—Zhuang gasped loudly.

"If you want, we could address him as Master!"

"We can call him Master if you want us to!

"It's not our fault; we're just used to calling him Mr. Han!"

Their yells blended together incoherently, but Master Kong seemed to get the gist of it. She laughed. "Relax, you three, I'm just teasing."

With that, she turned to Mr. Han. Before anyone could question what she was doing, she brought her hands together in respect and bowed. "Just for old times sake, Master."

Everyone except Dre gaped.

Mr. Han smiled and returned the gesture. "You always were my best student."

Master Kong grinned and left for the door, pausing only to send her favorite students a wave good-bye. The second she was gone, Qing pounced on Mr. Han.

"What did you mean by 'student'?" he demanded.

Feng stared at Mr. Han like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time. "You...you didn't...did you train Master Kong?"

Mr. Han smiled fondly. "I did. It was years ago. Before the, ah, car accident." Without further explanation, the old man turned and went to get some supplies while the gang turned to each other in confusion.

"What car accident is he talking about?" they murmured to each other.

Jiayi and Cheng turned to Dre and explained the recent events in English.

"**What car accident is he talking about?**" Jiayi asked curiously.

Dre sighed wearily. "**It's a long story.**"

* * *

**MHJ:** Yeah, I know, kind of disappointing after all this time, right? :/ Hahaa sorry, I'm just kind of eager to move onto my next project. Every now and then, I'll write an Always There omake though :) So be sure to follow me on Tumblr! :D Now, before I mark this story as complete, I have 3 questions I would like all of you to answer:

Question 1: **Which is better: Missing a Piece or Always There?** :) I personally like Always There _a lot_ better. :D:D

Question 2: **Should I make another chapter solely for listing the omakes I write?** Although I'll post the omakes on Tumblr, I could list their names on Fanfiction for you to see (if you _don't_ follow me). The only downside to this is that even when I update the list, you guys won't be notified by email. But at least you guys can see it though, right? :)

Question 3: I have a lot of incomplete ideas for stories filed on my computer and I'm currently trying to decide between two of them to post as my next story. **So should I write a GaaraOC or a SasoriOC next?** :) Don't worry for those of you who want me to write something else! I took note of all of your requests and I _will_ get to them in the future.

Thank you for reading Always There! ^_^ Love you all~


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